88883S3888S88S8SSt| 

LIBRARY  ASSOCIATION 

OF  THE 

Eighth  Presbyterian  Church. 

O 


a. 


THE  LIBRARY 
OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 
LOS  ANGELES 


r 


V 


0 


SERMONS, 


BY  THE  LATE 


RET.  EDWARD  PAYSOIV,  D.  D. 


PASTOR.  OF  THE 


SECOND  CHURCH  IN  PORTLAND. 


BOSTON  : 

PUBLISHED  BY  WILLIAM  HYDE, 

134,  WASHINGTON- STREET. 

1831. 


Entered  according  to  act  of  Congress.,-  ia  the  year  1831,  by 
Eb  waed  pAT3oy,  proprietor,  in  the  Clerk's  office  of  tjhe  district 
Qto-wt  of  Mains. 


III  -  '  ''i^^i^  'M^ 

r  7 

ADVERTISEMENT. 

It  will  be  a  sufficient  apology  for  the  ap- 
pearance'of  a  second  volume  of  Payson's  Ser- 
mons, to  state,  that  it  is  demanded  by  both 
the  voice  and  the 'wants  of  the  Christian 
community.  The  interest  and  benefit  with 
which  its  predecessor  has  been  read  in  fami- 
lies and  social  meetings,  the  favor  which  has 
been  awarded  to  it  by  Christian  reviewers, 
and  above  all  the  existing  state  of  religious 
feeling  in  our  country,  have  prepared  for  it, 
it  is  believed,  something  more  than  a  wel- 
come reception.  It  will  be  sought  with  avid- 
ity, and  received  as  a  precious  and  most  sea- 
sonable gift.  Few  men  have  had  a  more 
minute  acquaintance  with  the  workings  of 
the  human  heart,  than  Dr.  Pays@n,  or  have 
more  skilfully  applied  the  truths  appropriate 
to  its  various  states.  Some  of  the  most  in- 
teresting and  critical  states  of  mind,  in  which 
a  human  being  is  ever  seen,  will  be  found  to  be 
recognized  and  faithfully^Snd  judiciously  treat- 
ed in  several  of  the  following  discourses.  la 
others  will  be  found  a  remarkable  adapted- 
ness  of  subjects  to  the  circumstances  of 
churches  in  their  collective  capacity  ;  in 


IV 


others  again,  a  similar  adaptednesg  to  indi- 
vidual relations.  In  others  still,  fundamental 
doctrines  are  established  by  deductions  from 
facts  in  a  manner  highly  convincing  and  sat- 
isfactory,— a  method  of  commending  them 
to  the  understanding,  which,  in  a  promiscuous 
assembly,  has  many  advantages  over  a  more 
refined  and  abstract  mode  of  reasoning,  and 
for  which  Dr.  Payson  was  pre-eminently  dis- 
tinguished. In  all,  the  Saviour  is  honored, 
and  the  claims  of  Jehovah  asserted  and  main- 
tained. 

These  sermons  are  distinguished  for  sim- 
plicity, perspicuity,  and  directness, — the  great 
object  of  the  preacher  being  every  where  ap- 
parent, viz.  to  persuade  men  to  become  re- 
conciled to  God,  and  to  build  up  Christians 
on  their  most  holy  faith.  Like  former  post- 
humous publications  from  the  same  fervid 
pen,  they  are  commended  to  the  blessing  of 
God  and  the  candor  of  the  community. 

July,  1831. 


Jcknvah,  a  King.  page  12 

I  am  a  great  King,  saith  the  Lord  of  Hosts. — Malacbi  i.  14. 

Prayer  for  the  Advancement  of  Christ9  s  Kingdom,  27 

Thy  Kingdom   come. — Matthew  vi.  10. 

,  ■  ■  ®BM  MOM  III. 

The  Fulness  of  God  Dwelling  in  Christ,  42 

In  Him  dwelleth  a.ll  the  fulness  of  the  Godhead  bodily. — Colossians  ii.  9. 

£J3K .JSIOJV  IT. 

Christ  and  his  Harbinger  compared    distinguished.  55 

I  indeed  baptize  you  with  water  unto  repentance  ;  but  he  that  cometh 
after  me  is  mightier  than  I  -  whose  shoes  I  am  not  worthy  to  bear ;  he 
shall  baptize  you  with  the  Holy  Ghost  and  with  fire  ;  whose  fan  is  in 
his  hand,  and  he  will  thoroughly  purge  his  floor,  and  gather  his  wheat 
into  the  garner ;  but  he  will  burn  up  the  chaff  with  unquenchable  fire. 
—Matthew  iii.  11,  12, 

SERItEOIV  V. 

Man  in  his  original,  and  in  his  lapsed  State.  67 

Lo,  this  only  have  I  found,  that  God,  hath  made  man  upright;  but  they 
have  sought  out  many  inventions. — Ecclesiastes  vh.  29. 

•  ;  "SERMOHT  VI. 

Knowledge  of  One's  Sins,  a  difficult  Acquisition.  81 

Who  can  understand  his  errors  ?— Psalm  xix.  12. 

SERMON  VII. 

Sinners  in  Zion  described  and  doomed.  94 

Woe  to  them  that  are  at  ease  in  Zion. — Amos  vi.  1. 

SERMON  VIII. 


A  Class  of  Sinners  excluded  from  Mercy.     1 1 

It  is  a  people  of  no  understanding-,  therefore  he  that  made  them  will  not 
have  mercy  on  them,  and  he  that  formed  them  will  shew  them  no  favor. 
— Isaiah  xxvij.  11. 


VI 


SERMON  IX. 

Punishment  of  the  impenitent  inevitable    justifiable.  127 

As  I  live,  saith  the  Lord,  though  Coniah  the  son  of  Jelioiakim  king  of  Ju- 
dah  were  the  signet  upon  my  right  hand,  yet  would  I  pluck  thee  thence. 
— Jeremiah  xxii.  24. 

SERMON  X. 

The  Guilt  of  Indifference  to  Divine  Threatenings.  140 

Yet  they  were  not  afraid,  nor  rent  their  garments,  neither  the  king,  nor 
any  of  his  servants,  that  heard  all  these  words. — Jeremiah  xxxvi.  24. 

SERMON  XI. 

The  Sin,  Danger,     Unreasonableness  of  Despair.  154 

And  they  said,  There  is  no  hope  ;  but  we  will  walk  after  our  own  device?, 
and  we  will  every  one  do  the  imagination  of  his  evil  heart.— Jeremiah 
xviii.  12. 

SERMON  XII. 

The  Stubborn  Sinner  submitting  to  God.  169 

I  have  surely  heard  Ephraim  bemoaning  himself  thus  ;  Thou  hast  chas- 
tised me,  and  I  was  chastised,  as  a  bullock  unaccustomed  to  the  yoke.- 
turn  thou  me,  and  l  shall  be  turned  ;  for  thou  art  the  Lord  my  God. 
Surely,  after  that  I  was  turned,  I  repented ;  and  after  that  I  was  in- 
structed, I  smote  upon  my  thigh  .-  I  was  ashamed,  yea.  even  confound- 
ed, because  I  did  bear  the  reproach  ol  my  youth.  Is  Ephraim  my  dear 
son?  Is  he  a  pleasant  child  ?  For  since  I  spake  against  him,  I  do 
earnestly  remember  him  still :  Therefore  my  bowels  are  troubled  for 
him ;  I  will  surely  have  mercy  upon  him,  saith  the  Lord. — Jeremiah 
xxxi.  18,  19,  20. 

SERMON  XIII. 

Christ  rejects  JVone  who  come  unto  Him.  185 

Him  that  cometh  to  me,  I  will  in  no  wise  cast  out.— -John  vi.  37. 

SERMON  XIV. 

God  heard  in  the  still  small  Voice.  200 

And  behold  the  Lord  passed  by,  and  a  great  and  strong  wind  rent  the 
mountains,  and  brake  in  pieces  the  rocks  before  the  Lord ;  but  the 
Lord  was  not  in  the  wind  :  and  after  the  wind  an  earthquake  ;  but  the 
Lord  was  not  in  the  earthquake;  and  after  the  earthquake  a  fire;  but 
the  Lord  was  not  in  the  fire ;  and  after  the  fire  a  still  small  voice.  And 
it  was  so,  when  Elijah  h«ard  it  that  he  wrapped  his  face  in  his  mantle, 
and  went  out  and  stood  in  the  entering  in  of  the  cave  ;  and,  behold, 
there  came  a  voice  unto  bira,  and  said,  what  dost  thou  here  Elijah? — 
1.  Kings  xix.  11,  12,  IS. 


vii 


SERMON  XV. 

The  Day  of  small  Things  not  to  be  despised.  213 

Who  hath  despised  the  day  of  small  things  ? — Zechariah  nr.  10, 

SERMON"  XVI. 

God's  special  Presence  distinguishes  his  own  People.  224 

If  thy  presence  go  not  with  me,  carry  us  not  up  hence.  For  wherein 
shall  it  be  known  here,  that  I  and  thy  people  have  found  grace  in  thy 
sight?  Is  it  not  in  that  thou  goest  with  us?  So  shall  we  be  separated, 
I  and  thy  people,  from  all  the  people  that  are  upon  the  face  of  the  earth. 
— Exodus  xxxiii.  15,  16. 

SERMON  XVII. 

How  to  prolong  the  gracious  Visits  of  Christ..  239 

And  when  it  was  day  he  departed,  and  went  into  a  desert  place;  and 
the  people  sought  him,  and  came  unto  him,  and  stayed  him,  that  he  should 
not  depart  from  them.— Luke  iv.  42. 

SERMON  XVIII. 

The  Churches  increased.  253 

Then  had  the  churches  rest  throughout  all  Judea,  and  Galilee,  and  Sa- 
maria, and  were  edified  ;  and  walking  in  the  fear  of  the  Lord,  and  in 
the  comfort  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  were  multiplied. — Acts  ix.  34-. 

SERMON  XIX. 

Holiness  to  the  Lord.  273 

In  that  day  shall  there  be  upon  the  bells  of  the  horses,  Holiness  unto  the 
Lord-,  and  the  pots  in  the  Lord's  house  shall  bo  like  the  bowls  before 
the  altar.  Yea,  every  pot  in  Jerusalem  and  in  Judah  shall  be  Holiness 
unto  the  Lord  of  Hosts ;  and  all  they  that  sacrifice  shall  come  and  take 
of  them,  and  seethe  therein-,  and  in  that  day  there  shall  be  no  more  the 
Canaanite  in  the  house  of  the  Lord  of  Hosts.— Zechariah  xiv.  20,  21. 

SERMON  XX. 

The  Guilt  and  Consequences  of  Parental 

Unfaithfulness.  284 

For  I  have  told  bun,  that  I  will  judge  his  house  forever,  for  the  iniquity 
which  he  knoweth;  because  his  sons  made  themselves  vile,  and  he  re- 
strained them  not.  And  therefore  I  have  sworn  unto  the  bouse  of  Eli, 
that  the  iniquity  of  Eli's  house  shall  not  be  purged  with  sacrifice  nor 
•ffering  forever.— 1  Samuel  iii.  13,  14. 

SERMON  XXI. 

The  Glory  which  is  due  to  Jehovah.  299 

Give  unto  the  Lord,  ye  kindreds  of  the  people,  give  unto  the  Lord  glory 
and  strength.  Give  unto  the  Lord  the  glory  due  unto  his  name ;  bring 
an  offering,  and  come  before  him  ;  worship  the  Lord  in  the  beauty  of 
holiness. — l  Chronicles  xvi.  28,  29. 


VIII 

SERMON  XXII. 

The  oppressed  Soul  seeking  Divine  Interposition.  315 

O  Lord,  I  am  oppressed ;  undertake  for  me,— Isaiah  xxxviii.  14. 

SERMON  XXIII. 

Jin  unjust  Imputation  repelled  by  Jehovah.  329 

Have  I  been  a  wilderness  to  Israel?    a  land  of  darkness?— Jeremiah  ii.  31. 

SERMON  XXIV. 

Chrisfs  Mission  and  Return.  339 

I  came  forth  from  the  Father,  and  am  come  into  the  world  •,  again,  I 
leave  the  world,  and  go  to  the  Father. — John  xvi,  28. 

SERMON  XXV. 

Demonstration  of  Chrisfs  Love.  353 

Then  said  the  Jews,  Behold  how  he  loved  him!— John  xi.  36. 

SERMON  XXVI. 

Chrisfs  special  Tenderness  towards  penitent 

Disciples.  366 

Go  your  way,  tell  his  disciples,  and  Peter,  that  he  goeth  before  you  into 
Galilee  ;  there  shall  ye  seo  him,  as  he  said  unto  you. — Mark  xvi.  7. 

SERMON  XXVII. 

The  End  of  Time.  376 

And  the  angel  whom  I  saw  stand  upon  the  sea  and  upon  the  earth,  lifted 
up  his  hand  to  heaven*,  and  sware  by  him  that  livetu  forever  and  ever, 
who  created  heaven  and  the  things  that  therein  are,  and  the  earth  and 
the  things  that  therein  are,  and  the  sea  and  the  things  which  are 
therein,  that  there  should  be  time  no  longer;  but  in  the  days  of  the 
voice  of  the  seventh  angel,  when  he  shall  begin  to  sound,  the  mystery 
of  God  should  be  finished,  as  he  hath  declared  to  his  servants  the 
prt-phets. — Revelation  x.  5,  6,  7. 

SERMON  XXVIII. 

The  Feelings     Employment  of  Saints  in  Heaven.  390 

And  cast  their  crowns  before  the  throne.— Revelation  iv.  10. 


SERMON  I. 

Jehovah,  a  Kmg. 


MALACHI   I.  14, 

I  AM  A  GREAT  KING,  SAITH  THE  LORD  OF  HOSTS. 

When  God  would  inform  his  creatures  what  he  is,  he 
must  employ  language  suited  to  their  capacities  5  lan- 
guage, which  they  can  understand.  What  he  is  in  him- 
self, indeed,  or  what  constitutes  his  essence,  no  lan- 
guage can  describe  ;  and  therefore  even  he  cannot  in- 
form us.  He  can  only  say,  I  am  what  I  am.  But  what 
he  is  to  his  creatures,  and  what  relations  he  sustains  with 
respect  to  them,  may,  without  difficulty,  be  stated  in 
language  sufficiently  intelligible.  We  all  understand  the 
import  of  the  titles,  father,  master,  and  sovereign  or 
king  ;  and  know  something  of  the  relations  which  these 
titles  involve.  With  a  view  to  inform  us  what  he  is  to 
his  creatures,  God  assumes,  by  turns,  each  of  these 
titles,  and  represents  himsejf  as  sustaining  each  of  these 
relations.  Sometimes  he  styles  himself  a  father,  some- 
times a  master,  and  sometimes,  as  in  the  passage 'before 
us,  a  king.    I  am  a  great  King,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts, 

Jehovah  is  a  great  king.  This  is,  evidently,  the 
truth  taught  in  our  text.  And  it  is  a  most  important 
truth,  a  truth  richly  fraught  with  instruction.  My  de- 
sign is,  to  illustrate  briefly  this  truth,  and  then  to  state, 
at  considerable  length,  some  of  the  important  conse- 
quences which  result  from  it. 


14 


JEHOVAH,  A  KING. 


1.  Jehovah  is  a  King.  A  king,  you*  are  sensible,  is 
the  political  head,  or  supreme  ruler  of  a  kingdom.  Of 
kkigs,  writers  on  the  subject  of  royalty  usually  mention 
two  kinds, — kings  by  right,  and  kings  in  fact.  A  king  ~ 
by  right,  is  one  who  has  a  right  to  the  throne,  though  he 
may  not  possess  it.  A  king  in  fact,  is  one  who  actually 
possesses  the  throne,  though  he  may  have  no  right  to  it. 
But  he  alone,  in  whom  both  the  right  and  the  posses- 
sion are  united,  can  justly  be  considered  as,  in  all  re- 
spects, a  king.  Such  a  king,  in  the  fullest  and  most 
extensive  sense  of  the  term,  is  Jehovah.  In  the  first 
place,  he  is  a  king  in  fact.  His  kingdom  is  the  whole 
created  universe,  and  of  this  kingdom  he  is  in  actual 
and  full  possession.  He  is  its  sole  and  absolute  sovev 
reign  ;  he  has  no  partners,  no  counsellors,  but  governs 
every  thing  according  to  the  counsel  of  his  own  will ; 
doing  his  pleasure  in  the  armies  of  Heaven  and  among 
the  inhabitants  of  the  earth  ;  nor  can  any  one  stay  his 
hand,  or  say  unto  him,  what  doest  thou  ?  In  passages 
far  too  numerous  to  mention  particularly,  the  inspired 
writers  represent  him  as  exercising  the  most  complete 
and  uncontrolable  authority  over  all  his  creatures,  and 
ruling,  with  the  same  unlimited  power,  the  kingdoms  of 
nature,  of  providence,  and  of  grace.  If  any  deny  that 
Jehovah  thus  governs  the  universe,  they  must  suppose 
that  it  is  governed  by  chance,  that  is,  by  nothing  ;  for 
chance  is  only  another  word  for  nothing.  But  to  sup- 
pose that  the  universe  is  governed  by  nothing  is  no  less 
absurd  than  to  suppose  that  it  was  created  by  nothing ; 
and  none  but  the  fool,  who  says  in  his  heart,  there  is  no 
God,  will  suppose  either  the  one  or  the  other. 

In  the  second  place,  Jehovah  is  a  king  by  right.  He 
is  not  only  the  actual,  but  the  rightful  sovereign  of  the 
universe.  He  has  the  best  of  all  possible  titles  to  his 
kingdom  ;  for  he  formed  it  of  nothing,  and  constantly 
upholds  every  part  of  it.  Nor  can  a  single  individual 
of  the  human  race  deny,  with  the  least  shadow  of  truth 
or  propriety,  that  Jehovah  is  his  rightful  sovereign.  It 


JEHOVAH,  A  KING. 


15 


has  ever  been  allowed,  that,  with  some  few  immaterial 
exceptions,  all  who  are  born  in  the  dominions  of  any 
monarch,  are  his  rightful  subjects,  at  least  so  long  as 
they  continue  to  reside  in  them.  But  all  men  were 
born  in  the  dominions  of  Jehovah,  for  the  earth  is  the 
Lord's  and  the  fulness  thereof.  And  they  all  reside 
in  his  dominions ;  nor  can  they  possibly  leave  them  ; 
for  his  empire  is,  in  the  most  unqualified  sense,  univer- 
sal. Ascend  into  heaven,  or  make  your  bed  in  hell ; 
fly  to  the  East  or  to  the  West,  to  the  planets,  or  to  the 
fixed  stars; — still  you  are  in  the  dominions  of  Jehovah 
no  less  than  while  you  remain  on  the  earth.  Men  can- 
not, then;  cease  to  be  his  subjects  without  ceasing  to 
exist.  "It  appears  therefore,  that  he  is,  in  every  sense 
of  the  word,  a  king.  And  besides  a  kingdom  and  sub- 
jects, he  possesses  all  the  insignia  of  royalty.  He  has 
a  throne  ;  for  heaven  is  his  throne,  and  earth  his  foot- 
stool. He  has  a  crown  ;  for  he  is  crowned  with  glory 
and  honor  and  immortality.  He  has  royal  robes  ;  for 
he  is  clothed  with  light  and  majesty  as  with  a  garment. 
Property  speaking,  indeed,  he  alone  is  a  king,  for  earth- 
jy  monarchs  are  no  less  accountable  to  him  than  are 
their  meanest  subjects.  By  him  kings  reign  and  princes 
decree  justice  ;  he  is  King  of  kings  and  Lord  of  lords? 
Even  the  thrones  and  dominions,  the  principalities  and 
powers,  in  heavenly  places,  are  but  his  ministering  ser- 
vants, who  with  humble  reverence  and  alacrity  execute 
his  will. 

But  this  leads  us  to  remark,  - 

II.  That  Jehovah  is  a  great  King.  He  is  so  indeed 
in  every  conceivable,  every  possible  respect ;  for,  great 
is  the  Lord,  and  his  greatness  is  unsearchable.  Every 
thing,  that  can  with  propriety  be  considered  as  constitu- 
ting regal  greatness,  he  possesses  in  a  degree  which 
places  him  at  an  immeasurable  distance  from  all  com- 
parison, all.  competition.  Do  men,  for  instance,  take 
the  measure  of  a  monarch's  greatness  from  the  extent 
of  his  dominions,  and  the  number  of  his  subjects  ?  And 


16 


JEHOVAH,  A  KING. 


what  monarch  can  in  this  respect  be  compared  with  Je- 
hovah ?  The  extent  of  his  dominions  has  never  yet  been 
measured,  except  by  his  own  infinite  mind  ;  nor  by  any 
other  mind  have  his  subjects  been  numbered.  We  talk 
of  great  and  mighty  kingdoms  on  earth  ;  but  the  whole 
earth  is  a  mere  speck  in  his  empire,  and  all  its  inhabi- 
tants are  as  nothing  before  him.  Are  the  duration  and 
stability  of  his  empire  considered  as  entering  into  the 
composition  of  a  monarch's  greatness  ?  God  is  the  King 
eternal.  His  kingdom  is  an  everlasting  kingdom. 
Earthly  kingdoms  rise  and  fall,  as  bubbles  rise  and  burst 
on  the  surface  of  the  troubled  ocean ;  but  his  kingdom 
is  a  kingdom  which  cannot  be  moved,  and  like  himself 
it  has  no  end.  He  not  only  lives,  but  reigns,  forever 
and  ever.  Do  magnificent  works  and  splendid  enter- 
prises render  a  monarch  great  ?  Among  the  gods,  O 
Lord,  there  is  none  like  thee,  neither  are  there  any 
works  like  thy  works.  Or,  in  fine,  does  the  true  great- 
ness of  a  monarch  consist  in  his  intellectual  and  moral 
qualifications  for  the  station  which  he  fills  ?  It  is  needless 
to  remark  that  Jehovah  possesses,  in  an  infinite  degree, 
all  the  intellectual  and  moral  qualities  which  are  neces- 
sary for  a  sovereign ;  for  the  sovereign  of  an  empire  im- 
measurable in  extent  and  duration.  Unlike  earthly 
princes,  he  is  constantly  present  in  all  parts  of  his  do- 
minions, extensive  as  they  are  ;  the  past,  the  present 
and  the  future  are  alike  under  his  eye,  and  he  is  as  ac- 
cessible to  the  least  as  to  the  greatest  of  his  subjects. 
Indeed  all  the  wisdom,  goodness,  justice  and  fortitude 
which  either  rulers  or  their  subjects  ever  possessed,  were 
derived  from  him  ;  for  he  is  the  father  of  lights,  from 
whom  cometh  down  every  good  and  perfect  gift.  All  the 
intellectual  and  moral  excellence  in  the  universe  is  but 
a  drop  from  this  ocean ;  but  a  ray  from  this  sun. 

And  now  let  mortals  bring  forward  their  monarchs, 
their  conquerors,  their  heroes,  their  great  ones,  in  whom 
thejrboast,  and  whose  praises  they  are  proud  to  sing  ; 
and  compare  them,  if  they  dare,  with  the  King  mention- 


JEHOVAH,  A  KING. 


17 


ed  in  our  text.  Compare  them,  did  I  say  ?  I  recall  the 
word.  It  is  an  insult  to  Jehovah  to  speak  of  comparing 
any  thing  with  him.  But  what  are  they  in  his  presence  ? 
Mere  puppets,  shadows,  nothings.  Well  might  an  apos- 
tle say,  He  that  glorieth  let  him  glory  in  the  Lord. 
Well  might  the  psalmist  exclaim,  It  is  better  to  trust  in 
Jehovah  than  to  put  confidence  in  princes. 

Having  thus  attempted  to  illustrate  the  assertion  that 
Jehovah  is  a  great  King,  I  shall  proceed  to  state  some 
of  the  important  consequences  which  result  from  the  fact 
that  he  is  so. 

1.  If  God  is  a  king,  he  is  under  obligations  to  make 
laws  for  his  subjects.  It  will  not,  I  presume,  be  denied, 
that  when  he  assumes  any  office  he  binds  himself  to 
perform  all  the  duties  of  that  office.  Now  it  is  the  first 
and  most  indispensable  duty  of  an  absolute  sovereign  to 
make  laws  for  his  subjects.  It  is  as  much  his  duty  to 
make  laws,  as  it  is  their  duty  to  obey  them  when  made. 
Justice,  benevolence,,  regard  to  the  welfare  of  his  king- 
dom, all  require  of  him  the  performance  of  this  duty. 
Indeed  it  seems  impossible  that  an  absolute  sovereign 
should  not  make  laws  in  some  form  or  other  ;  for  as  an 
intelligent  being  he  must  have  a  will ;  if  he  has  a  will 
he  cannot  but  express  it,  and  the  expressions  of  an  ab- 
solute sovereign's  will  are  laws.  We  are  therefore,  I 
conceive,  warranted  to  assert,  that  God  could  not  avoid 
making  laws  for  his  creatures  without  ceasing  to  be  their 
king.  But  he  could  not  cease  to  be  their  king  without 
renouncing  all  connection  with  them ;  and  he  could  not 
renounce  all  connection  with  them  without  their  ceasing 
to  exist.  So  long,  therefore,  as  creatures  continue  to 
exist,  it  seems  absolutely  necessary  in  the  very  nature  of 
things,  that  God,  as  their  Creator  and  Sovereign,  should 
make  laws  for  the  regulation  of  their  conduct.  In  no 
intelligible  sense  can  he  be  a  king  ;  no  intelligible  mean- 
ing can  we  assign  to  the  assertion  in  our  text,  unless  he 
has  actually  made  such  laws. 

2.  If  Jehovah  is  a  king,  he  is  under  obligations,  not 

2* 


18 


JEHOVAH,  A  KING. 


only  to  make  laws  for  his  subjects,  but  to  make  the  wi- 
sest and  best  laws  possible.  This,  I  presume,  will  not 
be  denied.  All  will  allow  that  a  legislator  ought  to  make 
.the  best  laws  in  his  power ;  not  such  laws  as  will  please 
the  violent  or  the  fraudulent,  but  such  as  will  most  ef- 
fectually secure  the  rights  and  promote  the  welfare  of 
his  obedient  subjects.  Such  laws  then  Jehovah,  as  the 
Sovereign  and  supreme  Legislator  of  the  universe,  was 
bound  to  make  for  his  rational  creatures.  It  was  in- 
cumbent on  him  to  consult,  not  the  private  wishes  and 
inclinations  of  individuals,  but  the  great  interests  of  his 
whole  kingdom.  If  he  saw  that  these  interests  would 
be  best  secured  by  a  law,  commanding  all  his  intelligent 
subjects  to  be  perfectly  holy  ;  to  love  their  Creator  with 
all  their  hearts,  and  their  fellow  creatures,  as  themselves, 
it  was  incumbent  on  him  to  make  such  a  law.  Such  a 
law  he  has  made,  a  law  which  all  his  obedient  subjects 
declare  to  be  holy  and  just  and  good  ;  and  with  which 
none  but  the  rebellious  and  wicked  are  dissatisfied. 

3.  If  Jehovah  is  the  great  sovereign  of  the  universe, 
he  was  under  obligations,  not  only  to  make  such  a  law> 
but  to  annex  some  penalty  to  every  violation  of  it.  A 
law  without  a  penalty  annexed,  is  not  a  law  ;  or,  at  least, 
it  can  in  no  respect  answer  the  purpose  of  a  law.  Of 
this  every  person  may  be  convinced  in  a  moment,  by  en- 
deavoring to  conceive  of  a  law  without  a  penalty.  I 
make  a  law,  says  a  legislator,  to  this  effect.  But  what, 
his  subjects  ask,  will  be  the  consequence  if  we  trans- 
gress this  law  ?  Will  any  punishment  be  inflicted  on  us  ? 
None  at  all,  is  the  reply.  It  must  be  obvious  to  every 
one  that  this  would  be  a  law  in  name  only.  It  would 
be  no  more  than  counsel  or  advice.  If  then  it  was  in- 
cumbent on  God  to  make  laws  for  his  creatures,  it  was 
no  less  incumbent  on  him  to  annex  a  punishment  to  ev- 
ery violation  of  those  laws.  Hence  also  it'  became  ne- 
cessary that  he  should  provide  a  proper  place  for  the 
infliction  of  this  punishment,  a  prison  in  which  the  trans- 
gressor^ of  his  law  might  be  confined,  and  thus  prevent- 


JEHOVAH,  A  KING. 


19 


ed  from  doing  further  mischief.  Such  a  prison,  we  are 
informed  he  has  provided  ;  its  name  is  hell  ;  no  one 
who  believes  that  God  is  a  king  can,  consistently,  enter- 
tain doubts  of  its  existence ;  for  who  ever  heard  of  a 
king  that  had  no  prison  in  his  dominions  ? 

4.  If  Jehovah,  as  the  Sovereign  of  the  universe,  was 
bound  to  make  laws  for  his  creatures,  and  to  annex  a 
punishment  to  their  violation,  he  is  also  bound  to  enforce 
those  laws,  and  to  inflict  the  threatened  punishment  on  all 
who  transgress  them.  Every  consideration  which  proves 
that  it  was  incumbent  on  him  to  make  laws,  equally 
proves  that  it  is  incumbent  on  him  to  enforce  them,  and 
of  course  to  punish  transgressors  ;  for  it  is  obvious  that 
a  law  not  enforced  becomes  a  mere  nullity,  and  that  a 
threatened  punishment  not  inflicted  is  an  empty  sound. 
But  it  is  the  duty  of  a  sovereign  not  to  suffer  salutary 
laws  to  become  a  nullity.  It  is  as  much  his  duty  to  en- 
force them,  as  it  was  to  make  them.  He  must  not  bear 
the  sword  in  vain,  but  be  a  terror  to  evil  doers.  Inspi- 
ration declares,  He  who  justifieth  the  wicked  and  he  who 
condemned]  the  just  are  both  an  abomination  to  the 
Lord.  Hence  it  appears  that  to  justify  the  wicked,  or 
to  exempt  them  from  merited  punishment,  is  in  the 
sight  of  God,  no  less  an  act  of  injustice  than  to  condemn  . 
the  innocent.  That  it  ought  to  be  thus  considered  is 
obvious.  Justice  in  a  sovereign  ruler  consists  in  treat- 
ing his  subjects  according  to  their  deserts.  He  may, 
therefore,  be  guilty  of  injustice  by  treating  them  better 
than  they  deserve,  as  well  as  by  treating  them  worse 
than  they  deserve.  But  God  cannot  act  unjustly.  He 
cannot  do  that  himself  which  he  would  regard  as  an 
abomination  if  done  by  an  earthly  monarch.  He  must 
then,  as  the  sovereign  of  the  universe,  punish  those  who 
transgress  his  great  law  of  love,  and  shut  them  up  in  the 
prison  which  he  •  has  prepared  for  that  purpose;  nor 
would  he  be  either  a  just  or  a  good  king  should  he  act 
otherwise.  A  proper  attention  to  this  truth  will  shew 
us  the  fallacy  of  the  most  plausible  objections  which  are 


20 


JEHOVAH,  A  KING. 


urged  by  sinners  against  the  scriptural  doctrine  of  future 
punishment.  They  profess  to  regard  God  as  a  father 
only,  and  hence  infer  that  since  men  are  his  children  he 
will  suffer  none  of  them  to  be  finally  miserable.  But  it 
must  be  remembered  that,  if  he  is  a  father,  he  is  also 
a  king  ;  and  that  as  such  he  is  under  obligations  to  en- 
force the  laws  of  his  kingdom  ;  and  to  punish,  even 
though  he  may  do  it  with  reluctance,  all  who  transgress 
them.  When  the  king  and  the  father  meet  in  one  person, 
the  feelings  of  the  father  must  give  way  to  the  duties  of 
the  king.  The  page  of  history  records  at  least  one  in- 
stance in  which  a  father  was  called  to  sit  in  judgment 
on  his  own  sons  accused  of  conspiring  against  the  state. 
The  charge  was  fully  proved.  It  became  the  duty  of 
their  father,  as  a  judge,  to  pronounce  the  sentence  of 
the  law.  It  was  death,  a  painful  and  shameful  death.  He 
pronounced  the  sentence.  He  saw  it  executed  ;  and 
all  succeeding  ages  have  applauded  the  inflexible  regard 
to  justice  which  enabled  him  to  sacrifice  parental  affec- 
tion to  the  public  good.  And  shall  man  be  more  just 
than  God  ?  Shall  that  justice  which  was  applauded  in  a 
human  magistrate,  be  stigmatized  as  cruelty,  when  dis- 
played by  the  eternal  sovereign  of  the  universe  ? 

5.  From  the  fact  that  God  is  a  king,  taken  in  con- 
nection with  the  preceding  remarks,  we  may  learn  the 
necessity  of  an  atonement  for  sin.  By  an  atonement  we 
mean  something  which  shall  maintain  the  authority  of 
God's  law,  secure  the  great  interests  of  his  kingdom  and 
answer  all  the  ends  of  government,  no  less  effectually 
than  the  infliction  of  merited  punishment  upon  trans- 
gressors. If  there  is  any  truth  in  the  remarks  which 
have  been  made,  it  undeniably  follows,  that  without  such 
an  atonement  God  cannot  consistently  with  justice  or 
with  his  obligations  as  a  sovereign,  pardon  a  single  of- 
fender. Agreeably  an  apostle  informs  us  that  God  hath 
set  forth  Jesus  Christ  to  be  a  propitiation  through  faith 
in  his  blood,  that  he  might  be  just,  and  the  justifier  of 
hirn  that  believeth  in  Jesus ;  language,  which  most  ev- 


JEHOVAH,  A  KING 


21 


idently  intimates  that  were  it  not  for  this  merciful  pro- 
vision, God  could  not  be  just  in  justifying  or  pardoning 
transgressors.  And  we  may  add,  language  which  in- 
timates with  equal  clearness,  that  notwithstanding  this 
merciful  provision  he  can  justly  pardon  none  who  do 
not  believe. 

6.  If  Jehovah  is  a  king,  sin  is  treason  and  rebellion, 
and  every  impenitent  sinner  is  a  traitor  and  a  rebel. 
These  epithets  have,  I  am  aware,  a  harsh  and  unpleas- 
ant sound  ;  and  I  should  think  it  improper,  or  a*t  least 
inexpedient  to  employ  them,  did  not  the  language  of 
inspiration  warrant  their  use.  But  in  very  many  pas- 
sages of  the  inspired  volume,  sin  is  styled  rebellion,  and 
the  words  sinner  and  rebel  are  used  as  convertible  terms. 
A.  moment's  reflection  will  satisfy  us  that  this  language 
is  perfectly  just  and  proper.  A  rebel  is  one  who  diso- 
beys and  resists  the  authority  of  his  rightful  sovereign. 
Of  this  every  impenitent  sinner  is  guilty.  He  disobeys 
the  great  Sovereign  of  the  universe.  He  neither  loves 
God  with  all  his  heart,  nor  his  neighbor  as  himself.  By 
refusing  to  repent  he  practically  justifies  his  disobedi- 
ence, and  in  effect  denies  that  Jehovah  is  his  sovereign. 
He  must  then  be  regarded  as  guilty  of  rebellion.  Equal- 
ly obvious  is  it  that  he  incurs  the  guilt  of  treason.  Ev- 
ery subjeet  is  guilty  of  this  offence  who  entertains  and 
„  cherishes  the  known  enemies  of  his  prince.  Now  sin 
is  the  great  enemy  of  Jehovah  considered  tfs  a  king. 
It  directly  tends  to  subvert  .his  government.  It  strikes 
at  the  very  foundations  of  his  throne.  Could  it  univer- 
sally prevail,  it  would  not  leave  him  one  loyal  subject  in 
the  universe.  This  enemy  to  the  King  of  kings  every 
impenitent  sinner  entertains  and  cherishes  in  his  heart. 
He  is  then  guilty  of  treason  against  his  sovereign.  And 
it  must  be  remembered  that  the  criminality  of  treason 
and  rebellion  against  God  as  far  exceeds  that  of  the 
same  offences  against  earthly  rulers,  as  he  is  superior  to 
them.  If  these  crimes  when  committed  against  earthly 
rulers,  are  justly  punishable  with  death,  the  same  crimes 


22 


JEHOVAH,  A  KING. 


committed  against  the  great  Sovereign  of  the  universe 
must  surely  deserve  eternal  death,  the  punishment  de- 
nounced by  his  law  upon  transgressors.  We  may  here 
add,  that  if  every  impenitent  sinner  is  a  rebel,  every  real 
Christian  is  a  pardoned  rebel.  He  was  once  a  sin- 
ner, an  impenitent  sinner,  deeply  involved  in  the  guilt 
of  rebellion  against  Jehovah.  But  repentance  and  re- 
mission of  sins  have  been  freely  given  him  through  that 
Saviour  in  whom  he  believes.  He  ought  then  ever  to 
feel  and  act  in  a  corresponding  manner.  You  can  ea- 
sily conceive  how  a  rebel  ought  to  feel,  who,  after  his 
head  was  laid  upon  the  block, „had  received  a  free  par- 
don from  his  injured  sovereign.  You  can  conceive  how 
penitent,  how  humble,  how  grateful,  how  entirely  devo- 
ted to  his  prince's  service  he  ever  after  ought  to  be. 
Much  more  then  may  such  a  temper  and  such  conduct 
be  expected  of  those  whom  God  has  pardoned.  While 
they  rejoice  in  what  they  are,  they  should  never  forget 
what  they  were.  They  should  never  forget  that  they 
were  once  rebels  against  the  greatest  and  best  of  sover- 
eigns, and  that  by  his -rich  mercy  and  grace  alone  they 
have  been  rescued  from  everlasting  burnings.  Hence 
they  should  walk  softly  before  God  all  their  days  in  deep 
humility  of  soul ;  and  while  they  approach  him  with 
confidence  as  a  father,  remember  that  he  is  also  a  great 
and  glorious  king,  who  must  be  worshipped  with  reve- 
rence and  godly  fear.  It  was  for  the  purpose  of  enfor- 
cing this  duty  that  he  revealed  himself  as  a  king  in  the 
passage  before  us.  The  impious  and  covetous  Jews, 
though  expressly  commanded  to  offer  in  sacrifice  such 
animals  only  as  were  free  from  blemish,  insulted  him  by 
bringing  to  his  altar  the  lame  and  the  blind.  This  in- 
sult he  deeply  resented,  and  he  assigns  his  regal  char- 
acter as  a  reason  why  he  would  punish  those  who  op- 
posed it.  Cursed  be  the  deceiver  who  voweth  and  of- 
fereth  to  the  Lord  a  corrupt  thing  ;  for  I  am  a  great 
King,  and  my  name  is  dreadful,  saith  the  Lord  of  Hosts. 
My  Christian  friends,  how  often  do  we,  in  consequence 
of  the  coldness,  irreverence,  and  formality  with  which 


JEHOVAH,  A  KING. 


23 


we  approach  the  altar  of  God,  offer  him  a  corrupt  thing  ! 
When  he  looks  upon  his  worshipping  assemblies,  how 
often  does  he  find  reason  to  say  as  he  said  formerly,  It 
is  iniquity,  even  the  solemn  meeting.  Permit  me  to 
express  a  hope  that  he  will  never  find  reason  to  say  this 
of  the  solemn  meetings  which  may  be  held  in  this  house 
of  prayer.  Permit  me  to  charge  you,  by  his  awful  ma- 
jesty, and  to  beseech  you,  by  his  tender  mercies,  never 
to  forget  what  he  is,  and  what  you  are,  when  you  ap- 
proach his/throne^of  grace,  and  to  remember  that  God  is 
greatly  to  be  feared  in  the  assemblies  of  his  saints  ;  and  to 
be  had  in  reverence  by  all  that  are  about  him.  A  prac- 
tical remembrance  of  this  truth  is  indispensable  to  your 
religious  interests  ;  for  it  cannot  be  expected  that  God 
will  visit  a  temple  where  he  is  treated  with  irreverence, 
and  unless  he  favors  you  with  his  gracious  visits,  it  will 
be  in  vain  that  his  word  is  sent  to  you. 

Omitting  many  other  important  inferences  which 
might  be  drawn  from  this  fruitful  subject,  T  remark, 

Lastly,  If  Jehovah  is  a  king  it  seems  requisite  that  he 
should  have  ambassadors.  It  is  necessary  that  his  will 
should  be  communicated  to  his  subjects.  It  is  necessa- 
ry that  his  revolted  subjects  should  be  called  upon  to  re- 
turn to  their  allegiance.  If  a  way  has  been  opened  in 
which  they  may  escape  the  punishment  which  his  law 
denounces  upon  transgressors,  and  regain  his  forfeited 
favor,  it  is  necessary  that  way  should  be  pointed  out. 
For  these  purposes  it  seems  desirable  and  proper  that 
ambassadors  should  be  employed.  Agreeably,  we  are 
informed  that  God  has  seen  fit  to  employ  them.  His  in- 
spired messengers  the  prophets  and  apostles,  were  ambas- 
sadors extraordinary.  They  had  a  commission  and  in- 
structions with  the  broad  seal  of  heaven  affixed  to  them. 
Now  then,  said  one  of  them,  we  are  ambassadors  for 
Christ.  In  an  inferior  sense,  the  ordinary  ministers  of 
the  gospel  are  also  his  ambassadors,  for  the  same  passage 
which  informs  us  that  he  gave  prophets  and  apostles 
for  the  work  of  the  ministry,  informs  us  also  that  he 
gave  pastors  and  teachers  for  the  same  important  work. 


24 


JEHOVAH,  A  KING. 


It  is  not  indeed  usual  for  earthly  monarchs  to  send 
ambassadors  to  rebellious  subjects,  except  when  they 
are  unable  to  reduce  them  to  subjection  by  force.  This 
however,  the  King  of  kings  condescends  to  do.  Though 
he  is  able  with  infinite  ease  to  tread  all  his  rebellious 
subjects  in  the  dust,  and  even  to  dash  them  in  pieces 
as  a  potter's  vessel,  he  chooses  rather  to  send  them  mes- 
sages of  mercy,  to  propose  to  them  terms  of  peace. 
Nay,  more,  he  beseeches  them  to  accept  of  those 
terms.  As  though  God  did  beseech  you  by  us,  says  an 
apostle,  we  pray  you  in  Christ's  stead,  be  ye  reconcil- 
ed to  God. 

APPLICATION. 

You  have  heard,  my  fellow  mortals,  that  God  is  a 
King.  You  have  heard  his  own  awful  voice  announcing 
the  fact.  You  have  listened  to  an  imperfect  description 
of  his  greatness.  You  have  been  reminded  that  you 
are  all  his  subjects.  Turn,  then,  subjects  of  Jehovah, 
and  contemplate  your  Sovereign.  See  him  coming 
forth  from  that  unapproachable  light,  in  which  he  dwells, 
and  disclosing  his  ineffable  glories  to  your  vievy,  embodi- 
ed in  his  works  of  creation,  of  providence,  and  of  grace. 
See  him  seated  on  a  throne  of  glory  high  and  lifted  up, 
while  celestial  thrones  and  dominions,  principalities  and 
powers,  veil  their  faces  and  bow  in  humble  adoration  be- 
fore the  thrice  holy  Lord  of  hosts.  See  his  almighty 
arm,  in  which  dwells  everlasting  strengh,  swaying  the 
sceptre  of  uncontrolled  dominion  over  all  creatures  and 
all  worlds  ;  while  from  his  lips  goes  forth  his  eternal,  im- 
mutable law,  demanding  perfect  obedience  from  the 
whole  intelligent  universe.  But  hark !  he  speaks,  he 
proclaims  his  name.  O  earth,  earth,  earth,  listen  to  the 
voice  of  thy  Creator  and  thy  King.  Let  the  universe 
keep  silence,  while  he  says,  I  am  what  I  am.  I  am 
Jehovah ;  Jehovah  God,  merciful  and  gracious,  long 
suffering  and  abundant  in  goodness  and  truth,  keeping 
mercy  for  thousands,  forgiving  iniquity,  transgression 
and  sin  ;  but  will  by  no  means  clear  the  guilty.  Mor- 


JEHOVAH,  A  KING. 


25 


tals,  you  have  seen,  you  have  heard.    Say  then,  is  this 
your  king  ?  In  fact  and  by  right  he  most  certainly  is  so. 
Whether  you  acknowledge  him  or  not,  he  is  so.    But  is 
he  the  sovereign  of  your  choice,  the  monarch  of  your 
affections  ?  This,  this,  my  hearers,  is  the  question  ;  your 
answer  to  which  determines  your  character  and  your 
destiny  ;  for  most  sinful  is  the  man,  and  most  miserable 
is  the  man,  who,  while  necessitated  to  be  forever  a  sub- 
ject of  Jehovah,  says  in  his  heart,  I  will  not  have  this 
being  to  reign  over  me  ;  who  cannot  comply,  with  the 
command  which  says,  The  Lord  reigneth,  let  the  earth 
rejoice.     In  order  to  answer  the  great  question,  you 
must  ascertain  whether  you  yield  a  cheerful  obedience 
to  his  commands ;  for  they  only  are  his  loyal,  his  willing 
subjects  who  cheerfully  obey  him.    Know  ye  not,  says 
an  apostle,  that  to  whom  ye  yield  yourselves  servants  to 
obey,  his  servants  ye  are  to  whom  ye  obey  ?  Say,  then, 
my  hearers,  do  you  thus  obey  him  ?    Do  you  love  him 
supremely  ?    Have  you  repented  of  all  your  past  trans- 
gressions of  his  law,  and  cordially  embraced  the  gospel 
of  his  Son  ?    Are  you  seeking  first  his  kingdom  and 
righteousness,  and  living  a  life  of  devotedness  to  his 
service,  of  self-denial,  watchlulness  and  prayer  ?    If  so, 
you  are  his  loyal  subjects;  nay  more,  his  children,  the 
children  of  a  king,  of  the  King  of  heaven  ;  and  if  chil- 
dren, then  heirs,  heirs  of  God  and  joint  heirs  with 
Christ  of  his  everlasting  kingdom  ;  and  you  shall  not 
only  live  with  him,  but  reign  with  him  forever.  Let 
the  Christian  then  rejoice  in  his  sovereign  ;  let  the  chil- 
dren ofZion  be  joyful  in  their  king.    Nor  let  them  fear 
that  their  joy  will  ever  know  a  termination  ;  for  the 
Lord  shall  reign  king  forever,  even  thy  God,  O  JZion, 
throughout  all  generations,    But  if  Jehovah  is  not  the 
chosen  monarch  of  your  affections  :  if  his  law  is  not 
written  in  your  hearts ;  if  you  are  not  yielding  a  cordial 
obedience  to  its  requirements ;  then  you  are  not  his 
loyal,  willing  subjects  ;  you  are  still  involved  in  the  guilt 
of  treason  and  rebellion  against  the  King  of  kings;  and 
unless  you  speedily  submit  and  become  reconciled  to 
3 


26 


JEHOVAH,  A  KING. 


his  government,  he  will  be  constrained  to  consider  and 
to  treat  you  as  enemies.  It  will  avail  nothing  to  call  in 
question  his  right  to  be  your  sovereign  :  You  were  all 
bom  in  his  dominions ;  you  still  reside  in  them,  and  in 
them  you  must  forever  continue  to  reside.  It  will  avail 
nothing  to  think  of  resistance :  He  is  almighty.  It 
will  avail  nothing  to  think  of  flight  or  concealment :  He  is 
every  where  present,  and  he  sees  all  things.  It  will  avail 
nothing  to  make  excuses  for  disobedience  :  He  perfect- 
ly knows  their  fallacy.  It  will  avail  nothing  to  offer  him 
pretended  homage. :  He  demands,  and  he  reads  the 
heart.  Your  only  refuge,  your  only  safety  lies  in  sub- 
mission, cordial,  unreserved  submission.  To  this,  as 
his  messengers,  we  now  call  and  invite  you.  In  his 
name,  and  as  though  God  did  beseech  you  by  us,  we 
pray  you,  in  Christ's  stead,  be  ye  reconciled  to  God. 


SERMON  II. 


Prayer  for  the  Advancement  of  Christ's  Kingdom. 


MATTHEW  VI.  10. 

THY  KINGDOM  COME. 

The  well  known  form  of  prayer,  of  which  these 
words  are  a  part,  is  in  every  respect  worthy  of  its  di- 
vine author.  On  this,  as  on  all  other  occasions,  he 
spoke  as  never  man  spake.  In  the  compass  of  six 
short  petitions,  expressed  in  language  at  once  simple 
and  dignified,  he  has  included  every  thing  necessary  for 
man  to  ask,  or  for  God  to  bestow ;  and  at  the  same 
time  has  shewn  us  the  spirit,  which  should  animate  our 
devotions ;  and  indirectly,  but  impressively,  taught  us 
our  duty  to  our  Creator,  to  our  fellow  creatures,  and  to 
ourselves.  Even  the  order,  in  which  the  several  parts 
of  this  inimitable  prayer  are  arranged,  is  full  of  mean- 
ing and  instruction.  By  assigning  the  first-  place  to 
those  petitions,  which  relate  to  the  honor  of  God's 
name,  the  advancement  of  his  kingdom,  and  the  ac- 
complishment of  his  will,  our  Saviour  probably  intend- 
ed to  teach  us  to  prefer  these  objects  to  our  own  pri- 
vate interest;  and  to  give  them,  as  he  invariably  did,  the 
first  place  in  our  exertions  and  desires.  To  this  place, 
indeed,  they  are  preeminently  entitled.  They  embrace 
at  once  the  best  interests  of  heaven  and  of  earth — of 
God  and  of  his  creatures.  So  inseparably  is  their  pro- 
motion connected  with  the  highest  happiness  of  our 
fallen  race,  that  love  to  man  and  to  ourselves  as  well  as 


28 


PRAYER  FOR  THE  ADVANCEMENT 


concern  for  the  divine  glory,  must  induce  us  to  prefer 
it  to  every  other  object.  Never  do  we  display  a  temper 
more  worthy  of  men  and  of  Christians  ;  never  do  we 
ask  for  such  a  profusion  of  blessings  on  ourselves  and 
others,  as  when  we  sincerely  pray  that  God's  name  may 
be  hallowed,  that  his  kingdom  may  come,  and  that  his 
will  may  be  done  on  earth  as  it  is  in  heaven.  These 
few  words  express  or  imply  all  that  boundless  benevo- 
lence can  desire ;  and  were  it  possible  to  personify  be- 
nevolence, these  are  the  words  which  she  should  be 
represented  as  uttering. 

The  kingdom,  for  the  advancement  of  which  we  are 
here  taught  to  pray,  is  that  spiritual  kingdom  which 
Christ  came  to  establish.  It  is  styled  the  kingdom  of 
God,  and  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  in  allusion  to  a  pre- 
diction of  tha  prophet  Daniel.  In  the  days  of  these 
kings,  says  he,  the  God  of  heaven  shall  set  up  a  king- 
dom, which  shall  never  be  destroyed  ;  and  the  kingdom 
shall  not  be  left  to  other  people,  but  it  shall  break  in 
pieces  and  consume  all  these  kingdoms,  and  it  shall 
stand  forever.  The  nature  and  design  of  this  kingdom, 
as  well  as  its  future  extent,  are  largely  and  particularly 
described  by  the  inspired  writers.  Our  Saviour  has 
informed  us,  that  it  is  not  an  external  kingdom.  The 
kingdom  of  God,  says  he,  cometh  not  with  observation  ; 
neither  shall  they  say,  Lo,  here  !  or,  lo,  there  !  for  be- 
hold, the  kingdom  of  God  is  within  you.  He  has  also 
assured  us,  that  his  kingdom  is  not  of  this  world  ;  and 
we  farther  learn  from  one  of  his  apostles  that  it  consists 
in  righteousness,  peace  and  joy  in  the  Holy  Ghost.  It 
is,  therefore,  a  spiritual  kingdom  ;  its  throne  is  erected 
in  the  souls  of  men  ;  its  laws  are  the  benevolent  pre- 
cepts and  doctrines  of  the  gospel ;  and  its  subjects  con- 
sist of  those  on  whose  hearts  these  laws  are  indelibly 
inscribed  by  the  finger  of  God.  When  therefore  we 
pray  that  this  kingdom  may  come,  we  pray  for  the  uni- 
versal prevalence  of  Christianity  ;  and  for  the  removal, 
renovation,  or  destruction  of  every  thing  which  tends  to 
retard  or  limit  its  progress.    We  pray  that  the  gospel  of 


/ 


of  Christ's  kingdom 


29 


Christ  may  be  known,  believed,  and  obeyed  throughout 
the  world ;  that  his  religion  may  soon  become  the  only 
religion  of  man  ;  and  that  its  glorious  effects,  righteous- 
ness, peace,  and  holy  joy,  may  universally  prevail. 

The  brief  sketch  which  has  been  given  of  the  nature 
of  Christ's  kingdom  is  intended  to  prepare  the  way  for 
a  consideration  of  the  motives  which  should  induce  us 
to  pray  for  its  advancement.  Some  of  these  motives,  as 
was  unavoidable,  have  already  been  indirectly  brought 
into  view.  They,  however,  deserve  to  be  more  fully 
and  particularly  stated. 

The  first  motive,  to  which  I  request  your  attention,  is 
the  divine  command.  We  ought  to  pray  for  the  advance- 
ment of  this  kingdom,  because  God,  our  rightful  Sove- 
reign, requires  it  of  us.  He  commands  us  to  pray  for 
the  peace  or  prosperity  of  his  church ;  to  keep  not 
silence  and  to  give  him  no  rest  till  he  establish  and 
make  it  a  praise  in  the  earth.  Even  that  first  and  great 
command,  Thou  shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God  with  all 
thy  heart,  implicitly  inculcates  the  same  duty  ;  and  love 
to  God  will  necessarily  lead  us  to  pray  fervently  and 
perseveringly  for  the  advancement  of  his  kingdom.  I 
may  add,  that  the  form  of  prayer,  a  part  of  which  we 
are  considering,  has  all  the  force  of  a  positive  divine 
command  ;  and  that  we  violate  both  the  letter  and  the 
spirit  of  this  command,  whenever  we  presume  to  address 
our  Maker  without  praying  that  his  kingdom  may  come. 
With  the  real  subjects  of  his  kingdom  these  commands 
will  ever  be  the  first  and  most  prevailing  motive  ;  and 
did  we  all  belong  to  the  happy  number,  we  should  need 
no  other  motive  to  induce  us  to  pray  for  its  advance- 
ment. A  plain  thus  saith  the  Lord,  would  influence  us 
more  powerfully  than  volumes  of  reasoning,  or  than  all 
the  motives  which  human  ingenuity  could  devise. 

A  second  motive,  which  should  induce  us  to  pray  for 
the  coming  of  God's  kingdom  is,  that  by  this  desirable 
event  the  divine  glory  will  be  greatly  promoted.  Though 
God's  essential  glory  is  ever  the  same,  and  incapable 
alike  of  diminution  or  increase,  yet  his  declarative  glory, 


30 


PRAYER  FOR  THE  ADVANCEMENT 


or,  in  other  words,  his  glory  as  displayed  to  his  crea- 
tures, is  intimately  connected  with  the  prosperity  of  his 
kingdom,  and  shines  with  a  greater  or  less  degree  of 
lustre  in  proportion  as  that  is  increased  or  diminished. 
The  sun  is  ever  bright  and  luminous,  yet  its  besuns  may 
by  various  causes  be  obscured  or  eclipsed,  so  as  to  ren- 
der it  apparently  dark.  So  the  glory  of  God,  the  Father 
of  lights,  the  Sun  of  the  universe,  is  often,  as  it  were, 
shrouded  in  a  veil,  and  his  name  is  dishonored,  rather 
than  glorified,  in  the  view  of  his  intelligent  creatures. 
While  the  world  remains,  in  its  present  state,  this  must 
inevitably  continue  to  be  the  case.  The  glory  of  God 
is  principally  displayed  in  his  word  and  in  his  works, 
especially  in  the  great  work  of  man's  redemption.  But 
of  his  word  millions  know  nothing.  Of  the  work  of  re- 
demption they  are  equally  ignorant ;  and  even  the  glory 
of  creating  and  preserving  the  world,  is  by  them  taken 
from  Jehovah,  and  ascribed  to  some  worthless  idol,  the 
work  of  their  own  hands.  Thus  as  the  apostle  expres- 
ses it,  men  have  changed  the  glory  of  the  incorruptible 
God  into  an  image  made  like  to  corruptible  man,  and 
to  birds,  and  four  footed  beasts,  and  creeping  things, 
and  have  worshipped  and  served  the  creature  more  than 
the  Creator.  How  many  myriads  of  intelligent,  immor- 
tal beings  are  at  this  moment  bowing  to  stocks  and 
stones,  in  humble  adoration,  and  giving  that  worship  and 
glory  to.  some  impure  or  cruel  idol,  which  is  due  to  God 
alone — -while  he  is  comparatively  left  almost  without  a 
worshipper  in  his  own  world ;  a  world  which  he  has 
made,  which  he  preserves  and  fills  with  his  goodness. 
The  apostle  informs  us,  that,  when  the  heathen  sacrifice 
to  their  idols,  they  in  reality  sacrifice  to  devils.  Be- 
hold, then,  millions  of  the  human  race  robbing  that  God 
whom  they  ought  to  love  and  adore,  of  his  glory,  to  give 
it  to  the  prince  of  darkness,  the  great  foe  of  God  and 
man.  Behold  his  kingdom  extensive,  and  his  subjects 
almost  innumerable,  while  the  kingdom  of  God  is  cir- 
cumscribed within  narrow  limits,  and  his  subjects  are 
comparatively  few.    But  this  is  not  all,  nor  even  the 


of  Christ's  kingdom* 


31 


worst.    Would  to  God,  that  it  were.    But  even  in  lands 
called  Christian,  what  contempt  is  cast  upon  the  ever 
blessed  God  !  How  openly  and  impiously  is  his  sacred 
name  profaned  and  blasphemed  !   How  are  his  holy 
Sabbaths  dishonored  !  How  is  his  law  of  love  trodden 
under  foot !  How  is  his  word  neglected  and  abused,  and 
the  gospel  of  his  Son  despised  !    How  little  do  men 
thank  God  for  his  unspeakable  gift !  With  what  profane 
contempt  do  multitudes  treat  the  ordinances  and  insti- 
tutions of  his  religion  !  How  little  are  the  dispensations 
of  his  providence  regarded  !   How  much  is  ascribed  to 
second  causes,  while  the  Great  First  Cause  is  overlook- 
ed and  neglected  !    And  to  say  no  more,  how  many  in- 
fidels, politely  styled  philosophers,  have  even  attempted 
to  rob  him  of  the  glory  of  creating  the  world,  by  ascri- 
bing its  existence  to  fats  or  chance,  while  thousands 
wish  them  success  in  their  impious  endeavor  !  Now, 
my  friends,  who  that  feels  as  a  creature  of  God  ought 
to  feel,  who  that  has  the  smallest  portion  of  reverence 
or  love  for  his  Creator,  can,  without  the  utmost  grief 
and  indignation,  see  him  thus  dishonored,  insulted,  and 
robbed  of  his  glory  ?   Can  a  loyal  subject  hear,  without 
emotion,  his  sovereign  dishonored  ?    Can  an  affection- 
ate child  see  his  father  insulted  without  being  moved  ? 
If  then  we  are  the  subjects,  and  the  children  of  God, 
how  can  we  behold  our  Almighty  Sovereign,  our  heav- 
enly Father,  thus  insulted,  dishonored,  without  feeling 
the  strongest  emotion  of  indignant  sorrow,  and  fervent- 
ly praying  that  his  kingdom  may  come,  and  that  the 
knowledge  of  his  glory  may  fill  the  earth,  even  as  the 
waters  fill  the  seas  ?  The  psalmist  informs  us  that,  when 
the  Lord  shall  build  up  Zion,  that  is,  extend  and  estab- 
lish his  kingdom,  the  spiritual  Zion,  he  shall  appear  in 
his  glory  ;  he  will  then  appear  peculiarly  great  and  glo- 
rious in  the  view  of  all  his  creatures.    Pray  then,  ye, 
who,  like  David,  are  grieved  when  men  keep  not  God's 
law ;  ye,  who,  like  Elijah,  are  jealous  for  the  honor  of 
the  Lord  of  hosts;  ye,  who,  like  Moses,  desire  to  see 


32  PRAYER  FOR  THE  ADVANCEMENT 


God's  glory  ;  pray  and  beseech  him  to  come  quickly, 
and  build  up  his  kingdom  on  earth. 

The  benefits  which  will  result  to  mankind  from  the 
coming  of  God's  kingdom,  furnish  another  powerful  mo- 
tive to  induce  us  to  pray  for  its  advancement.  The 
number  and  value  of  these  benefits,  as  they  respect  the 
present  life,  may  in  some  measure  be  inferred  from  a 
consideration  of  the  nature  and  tendency  of  Christ's 
kingdom.    It  essentially  consists,  as  has  already  been 
observed,  in  righteousness,  peace,  and  holy  joy.  That 
all  these  are  much  needed  in  our  world,  you  need  not 
be  told.    Wherever  we  turn  our  eyes,  we  find  little  but 
melancholy  proofs  of  their  absence,  and  of  the  dreadful 
prevalence  of  the  opposite  evils.    Injustice,  discord,  and 
wretchedness  everywhere  abound.    The  whole  earth 
is  filled  with  violence.    Mankind  have  long  been  at  war 
with  God ;  they  can  therefore  have  little  peace  either 
in  themselves  or  with  each  other.    If  we  contemplate 
them  individually,  we  find  them  destitute  of  benevolence, 
actuated  by  base  or  malignant  passions,  a  prey  to  care, 
anxiety  and  discontent,  and  often  harassed  by  guilty 
fears  and  the  reproaches  of  a  guilty  conscience.    If  we 
turn  our  attention  to  families  and  societies,  we  see  the 
effects  of  these  evil  principles  in  the  neglect  of  family 
religion,  and  of  the  education  of  youth  ;  in  frequent  dif- 
ficulties and  dissentions ;  in  the  invention  or  circulation 
of  false  and  scandalous  reports ;  and  in  innumerable 
petty  frauds  and  acts  of  injustice.    If  we  extend  our 
views  to  the  nations  of  the  earth,  we  see  the  same  evils 
operating  on  a  larger  scale.    We  see  nation  rising  up 
against  nation,  and  kingdom  against  kingdom  ;  whole 
countries  desolated  ;  extensive  cities  wrapt  in  flames  ; 
millions  of  human  beings  dragged  from  their  families  and 
led  forth  as  sheep  appointed  for  the  slaughter,  and  mil- 
lions more  fainting  and  dying  under  the  calamities  of 
war,  or  groaning  in  hopeless  anguish  under  the  iron  rod 
of  oppression,  or  the  merciless  scourge  of  slavery. 
Could  we  hope  that  the  myriads  of  immortal  souls,  who 
are  hurried  out  of  time  by  these  complicated  evils,  found 


of  Christ's  kingdom. 


33 


an  end  to  their  miseries  at  death  ;  could  we  hope  that, 
after  a  life  embittered  by  so  many  sufferings  and  sor- 
rows, they  entered  into  eternal  rest,  we  might  contem- 
plate these  scenes  with  emotions  comparatively  pleasing. 
But  we  cannot  hope  thus.  The  scriptures  forbid  it. 
They  uniformly  teach  us  that  a  life  spent  in  sin  unre- 
pented  of,  is  a  prelude  to  an  eternity  of  wretchedness 
and  despair ;  and  those  who  live  without  God  in  the 
world,  are  expressly  said  fco  have  no  hope.  With  re- 
spect to  those,  therefore,  who  die  in  this  situation,  we 
are  compelled  to  believe,  unless  we  renounce  our  belief 
in  Christianity,  that  they  lie  down  in  everlasting  sorrow. 

From  this  imperfect  sketch  of  the  temporal  evils 
which  mankind  are  suffering,  and  of  the  far  more  to  be 
dreaded  evils  to  which  they  are  exposed  beyond  the 
grave,  it  must,  we  conceive,  be  apparent  that  a  remedy 
for  these  evils  is  the  one  thing  needful.    But  this  rem- 
edy is  only  to  be  found  in  the  universal  spread  of  the 
kingdom  of  Christ.    Reason  and  philosophy  have  long 
been  endeavoring  to  discover  such  a  remedy,  and  their 
votaries  have  often  boasted  of  their  success.    But  their 
boasts  have  proved  false,  and  their  endeavors  fruitless. 
They  have  not  even  succeeded  in  finding  a  remedy  for 
the  evils  of  time  ;  much  less  for  those  of  eternity.  The 
world  is  still  as  full  of  vice  and  wretchedness  as  ever  ; 
and  it  still  is  and  ever  will  be  true,  that  there  is  salva- 
tion for  sinful  man  in  none  but  Christ ;  for  there  is  no 
other  name  given  under  heaven  among  men  whereby 
we  must  be  saved.    But  while  no  other  remed}^  can 
possibly  be  found,  the  universal  extension  of  Christ's 
kingdom  will  prove  a  certain  and  effectual  remedy  for 
all  the  present  and  future  evils,  to  which  the  human 
race  are  exposed.    This  is  undeniably  evident  from  its 
very  nature.    Let  righteousness,  peace  and  joy  in  the 
Holy  Ghost  universally  prevail,  and  sin  and  misery  will 
be  banished  from  the  world.    By  righteousness  is  here 
intended  a  temper  and  conduct  conformable  to  our  Sa- 
viour's rule  of  equity ;  whatsoever  ye  would  that  men 
should  do  to  you,  do  ye  even  so  to  them.    By  peace  is 


34 


PRAYER  FOR  THE  ADVANCEMENT 


intended  peace  with  God,  peace  of  conscience,  and 
-  peace  with  our  fellow  creatures.  By  joy  in  the  Holy 
Ghost  is  intended  those  divine  consolations  which  God 
imparts  to  his  people,  and  which  often  cause  them  to 
rejoice,  as  the  apostle  expresses  it,  with  a  joy  unspeak- 
able and  full  of  glory. 

Now  were  these  things  universally  prevalent,  what 
evil  could  remain  to  infest  the  world.  Universal  right- 
eousness would  banish  all  those  evils  which  spring  from 
fraud,  injustice,  and  oppression ;  all  the  crimes  which 
now  disturb  the  peace  of  society  ;  all  causes  of  conten- 
tion between  nations  and  individuals.  Peace  with  God 
would  deliver  mankind  from  the  heavy  judgments  and 
calamities  with  which  he  is  now  constrained  to  afflict 
them  on  account  of  their  opposition  to  his  authority ;  and 
from  all  the  unhappiness  occasioned  by  want  of  resig- 
nation, by  anxiety,  and  discontent.  Peace  of  conscience 
would  entirely  free  them  from  that  guilty  fear,  remorse, 
and  dread  of  death,  which  now  often  embitter  their 
choicest  comforts.  Peace  with  each  other  would  de- 
stroy at  once  the  innumerable  evils  which  arise  from 
public  and  private  wars,  disputes,  and  dissentions,  while 
the  consolations  of  the  Holy  Spirit  would  fill  them  with 
that  peace  which  passeth  all  understanding,  and  give 
them,  while  onearth,  a  continual  foretaste  of  the  joys 
of  heaven ;  toward  which  they  will  be  constantly  ad- 
vancing, and  at  which  they  woulcl  at  length  arrive,  there 
to  live  and  reign  throughout  eternity  with  him  in  whose 
presence  is  fulness  of  joy,  and  at  whose  right  hand  are 
pleasures  forevermore.  Such,  my  friends,  are  the  ben- 
efits which  would  result  to  mankind  from  the  universal 
spread  of  Christ's  kingdom,  such  the  glorious  effects 
which  it  naturally  tends  to  produce.  That  the  descrip- 
tion here  given  of  them  is  not  exaggerated,  is  evident 
from  the  language  of  the  inspired  writers  when  speaking 
on  the  same  subject.  In  his  days,  say  they,  referring  to 
Christ,  in  his  days  shall  the  righteous  flourish  and  abun- 
dance of  peace  so  long  as  the  sun  and  the  moon  endure. 
Men  shall  be  blessed  in  him,  and  all  nations  shall  call 


of  Christ's  kingdom 


35 


him  blessed.  The  desert  and  the  solitary  place  shall 
be  glad,  and  the  wilderness  shall  rejoice  and  blossom  as 
the  rose.  Then  shall  the  eyes  of  the  blind  be  opened, 
and  the  ears  of  the  deaf  unstopped  ;  the  lame  man  shall 
leap  as  an  hart,  and  the  tongue  of  the  dumb  shall  sing. 
Nation  shall  no  more  lift  up  sword  against  nation,  but 
they  shall  beat  their  swords  into  ploughshares  and  their 
spears  into  pruning  hooks,  neither  shall  they  learn  war 
any  more.  The  wolf  also  shall  dwell  with  the  lamb, 
and  the  leopard  lie  down  with  the  kid,  and  the  calf  and 
the  young  lion  together,  and  a  little  child  shall  lead  them ; 
and  the  lion  shall  eat  straw  like  the  ox,  and  the  cow  and 
the  bear  shall  feed,  and  their  young  shall  lie  down  to- 
gether ;  and  tne  sucking  child  shall  play  on  the  hole  of 
the  asp,  and  the  weaned  child  shall  put  his  hand  on  the 
serpent's  den.  Thus  that  paradisaical  state,  which  was 
lost  by  the  first  Adam,  shall  be  restored  by  the  second ; 
and  love,  peace,  and  happiness  universally  prevail  under 
the  mild  reign  of  him  who  is  emphatically  the  Prince  of 
peace.  Who  then,  that  is  not  totally  destitute  of  benev- 
olence, can  refrain  from  praying,  most  fervently  pray- 
ing, that  Christ's  kingdom  may  come.  He  who  will 
not  thus  pray,  and  still  more  he,  who  opposes  the  spread 
of  this  kingdom,  ought  to  be  banished  from  it  forever, 
and  to  be  considered  as  the  common  enemy,  fit  only  to 
be  a  subject  of  the  princeof  darkness. 

But  it  will  perhaps  be  asked,  by  some,  is  not  this 
universal  spread  of  Christ's  kingdom  a  mere  chimera  ; 
one  of  those  delightful  visions  which  a  benevolent  mind 
loves  to  form,  but  which  will  never  be  realized  ?  No, 
my  friends,  it  is  no  chimera  ;  if  it  be  a  vision,  it  is  one 
of  the  visions  of  the  Almighty  ;  and  it  shall  be  realized, 
more  than  realized  ;  for  he  hWsaid  it  and  sworn  it,  who 
cannot  lie. 

We  may,  therefore,  add,  as  another  motive  which 
should  induce  us  to  pray  for  the  universal  spread  of 
Christ's  kingdom,  that  he  has  promised,  and  even  sworn 
by  himself,  that  this  event  shall  infallibly  take  place. 
AH  the  prophetic  writings  abound  with  the  most  full, 


36 


PRAYER  FOR  THE  ADVANCEMENT 


explicit,  animating  predictions  of  the  approach  of  a  glo- 
rious period  when  the  stone  that  was  cut  out  of  the 
mountain  without  hands,  shall  fill  the  earth  ;  and  when 
all  the  kingdoms  of  this  world  shall  become  the  king- 
dom of  our  Lord  and  Saviour.  The  fulfilment  of  these 
predictions  was  in  vision  beheld  by  the  prophet  Daniel. 
I  saw  in  the  night  visions,  says  he,  and  behold,  one  like 
unto  the  Son  of  man  came  with  the  clouds  of  heaven, 
and  came  near  to  the  Ancient  of  days,  and  there  was 
given  unto  him  dominion,  and  glory,  and  a  kingdom, 
that  all  people  and  nations  and  languages  should  serve 
him.  We  are  further  assured,  that  the  Lord  shall  be 
King  over  all  the  earth  ;  that  there  shall  be  one  Lord 
and  his  name  one  ;  that  all  flesh  shall  see  his  glory,  and 
that  the  knowledge  of  him  shall  fill  the  whole  earth,  even 
as  the  waters  fill  the  seas,  and  that  Christ  shall  reign  till 
all  enemies  are  put  under  his  feet. 

We  have  therefore,  all  the  encouragement  to  pray  for 
the  universal  spread  of  Christ's  kingdom,  which  the 
most  positive  divine  assurances  of  an  answer  to  our 
prayers  can  give.  If  it  be  said,  since  the  event  is  cer- 
tain, why  should  we  pray  for  it?  We  answer,  God  has 
said  that  for  all  these  blessings,  he  will  be  inquired  of. 
Prayer  is  still  no  less  necessary,  than  if  no  promises  had 
been  made ;  for  the  grand  design  of  these  promises  is, 
not  to  supersede,  but  encourage  prayer,  and  to  afford  a 
firm  foundation  on  which  faith  may  stand,  and  wrestle 
with  God  for  their  accomplishment.  Shall  we  then  des- 
pise the  riches  of  his  goodness  ?  Shall  we  lose  these  in- 
valuable benefits,  by  neglecting  to  pray  for  them  ?  Shall 
we  see  God's  aim  extended,  and  his  hand  filled  with 
blessings  inestimable  and  innumerable,  and  yet  neglect 
to  employ  the  means  which  he  prescribes,  to  bring  them 
down  in  copious  showers  on  ourselves,  our  posterity,  and 
our  fallen  race  ?  No  :  let  us  not  thus  imitate  the  fool 
into  whose  hands  a  price  is  put  to  get  wisdom,  but  who 
has  no  heart  to  it.  Rather  let  us  firmly  grasp  the  di- 
vine promises,  and  pray  unceasingly  that  they  may  speed- 
ily be  fulfilled  in  their  fullest  extent. 


of  Christ's  kingdom. 


37 


As  a  farther  inducement  to  do  this,  permit  me  to  re- 
mind you  that  the  time  allotted  for  their  fulfilment  is 
rapidly  advancing,  and  that  the  present  appearance  of 
the  world  and  the  dispensations  of  providence  plainly  indi- 
cate that  God  is  about  to  finish  his  work  and  cut  it  short 
in  righteousness,  and  that  the  latter  day  of  Christ's  king- 
dom is  beginning  to  dawn.  God  is  now,  agreeably  to 
the  predictions  of  the  prophets,  overturning  the  nations  ; 
and  he  will  continue  to  overturn,  and  overturn,  till  he 
shall  come  whose  right  it  is  to  reign.  In  almost  all 
parts  of  the  Christian  world,  he  is  exciting  desires  and 
producing  exertions  for  the  extension  of  his  kingdom, 
which  have  never  been  equalled  since  the  days  of  the 
apostles.  So  long  since  as  the  commencement  of  the 
last  year  [1812]  translations  of  the  scriptures  had  been 
begun,  and  in  many  instances  completed,  into  upwards 
of  fifty  different  languages  and  dialects ;  and  from  that 
time  to  the  present  the  blessed  work  has  been  prosecuted 
with  unabated,  with  constantly  increasing  zeal.  At  the 
same  period  forty-seven  societies  had  been  formed  in 
England,  Scotland,  and  Ireland,  and  seventeen  more  in 
this  country,  for  the  sole  purpose  of  disseminating  the 
sacred  scriptures  throughout  the  world.  Since  that  pe- 
riod, the  number  of  societies  for  this  purpose  in  England 
has  been  nearly  doubled,  and  by  their  exertions  the 
word  of  life  has  been  sent,  and  is  still  going  to  almost 
every  part  of  the  habitable  globe.  In  aid  of  the  same  glo- 
rious cause,more  than  a  hundred  missionary  societies,  and 
societies  for  the  diffusion  of  religious  knowledge,  and  for 
the  Gonversion  of  the  Jews,  have  been  formed,  within  a 
few  years,  in  different  parts  of  the  Christian  world  ;  and 
they  are  now  with  united  efforts  endeavoring  to  diffuse 
the  knowledge  of  God  and  extend  the  bounds  of  the 
Redeemer's  kingdom.  Notwithstanding  the  disappoint- 
ments they  have  met  with,  and  4he  various  difficulties 
which  they  have  been  called  to  encounter,  their  endea- 
vors have  in  very  many  instances  been  crowned  with 
success,  so  that  from  the  farthest  parts  of  the  earth  we 
have  heard  songs  of  praise,  ascribing  glory  to  the  right- 


38 


PRAYER  FOR  THE  ADVANCEMENT 


eous  God.  For  all  these  unusual  and  unparalleled  exer- 
tions it  is  impossible  satisfactorily  to  account,  without 
ascribing  them  to  their  true  cause,  the  agency  of  God. 
He  it  is,  and  he  alone,  who  has  excited  in  the  Christian 
world  these  strong  desires  and  extraordinary  endeavors 
to  promote  the  extension  of  his  kingdom.  And  since 
he  has  begun  to  work,  we  may  confidently  expect  that 
he  will  finish  what  he  has  begun,  and  that  the  long  ex- 
pected time  for  the  universal  spread  of  his  kingdom 
will  soOn  arrive.  Soon  will  the  Jews  be  brought  in  with 
the  fulness  of  the  Gentiles  ;  soon  will  Ethiopia  stretch 
out  her  hands  to  God,  and  the  isles  of  the  southern  ocean 
wait  for  his  law.  Soon  will  the  enrapturing  cry  be 
heard,  Alleluia  !  for  the  Lord  God  omnipotent  reigneth  ; 
and  the  kingdoms  of  the  world  have  become  the  king- 
doms of  our  Lord  and  of  his  Christ.  Even  now  the 
angel  with  the  everlasting  gospel  is  flying  through  the 
world,  saying  to  every  nation  and  people,  Fear  God, 
worship  him  who  made  heaven,  and  earth,  and  sea ; 
for  the  hour  of  his  judgment  is  come.  He  who  sits  on 
the  throne  is  exclaiming,  Behold,  I  create  all  things 
new.  I  create  new  heavens,  and  a  new  earth,  wherein 
dwelleth  righteousness.  Prepare  ye  then  the  way  of 
the  Lord  ;  make  straight  in  the  desert  a  high  way  for 
our  God.  Exalt  the  valleys,  and  level  the  hills,  make  the 
crooked  ways  straight,  and  the  rough  places  plain,  that 
the  glory  of  the  Lord  may  be  revealed,  and  all  flesh  see 
it  together.  Since  then  the  kingdom  of  Christ  is  thus 
comparatively  nigh,  even  at  the  door,  let  us  seize  the 
golden  opportunity  and  improve  the  precious  moments 
which  yet  remain,  in  fervently  praying  for  its  arrival. 

As  a  farther  motive  to  induce  you  to  this,  consider 
the  kappy  effects  ivhich  it  will  have  upon  yourselves. 
Nothing  can  more  directly  or  more  powerfully  tend  to 
destroy  every  baleful,  malignant  passion  in  your  breasts, 
or  promote  in  them  the  growth  of  divine  benevolence, 
than  frequently  praying  for  the  advancement  of  Christ's 
kingdom.  "When  you  leave  your  closets,  after  suppli- 
cating the  Father  of  mercies  with  strong  cries  and  tears 


of  Christ's  kingdom. 


39 


to  send  the  blessings  attending  his  kingdom  to  all  man- 
kind, and  to  forgive  all,  not  excepting  your  bitterest 
enemies,  you  will  breathe  the  very  spirit  and  temper  of 
heaven ;  you  will  be  transformed  for  a  time  into  the  im- 
age of  Christ ;  you  will  feel  that  his  kingdom  is  set  up 
in  your  hearts,  and  that  they  are  filled  with  righteous- 
ness, peace  and  joy  in  the  Holy  Ghost  ;  an  earnest  of 
that  heaven,  at  which  you  will  then  be  sure  of  coming. 
On  the  other  hand,  nothing  can  more  certainly  prove 
that  you  are  destitute  of  love  to  God,  that  you  are  not 
the  subjects  of  his  kingdom,  that  you  are  not  the  disci- 
pies  of  Christ,  than  a  habitual  neglect  of  praying  that 
his  kingdom  may  come ;  nor  can  you,  while  guilty  of  this 
neglect,  offer  up  a  single  acceptable  petition  for  your- 
selves. If  then  you  would  not  be  considered  and  treat- 
ed as  the  enemies  of  God  ;  if  you  would  possess  a  heav- 
enly temper  and  obtain  a  full  assurance  of  your  title  to 
heaven  ;  if  you  would  have  your  hearts  filled  with  holy 
peace  and  joy,  and  taste  the  happiness  of  heaven  before 
you  arrive  there,  pray  sincerely,  fervently,  and  perse- 
veringly,  that  God's  kingdom  may  come. 

Let  us  now,  my  friends,  on  the  wings  of  faith,  fly 
forward  a  few  years,  and  contemplate  the  world  under 
the  mild  reign  of  the  Prince  of  Peace.  Let  us  escape 
from  the  wars,  the  vices  and  miseries,  which  surround 
us,  and  visit  the  earth  restored  to  its  original  state.  See 
it  no  longer  groaning  under  its  Creator's  curse ;  but 
rejoicing  in  his  smiles.  See  it  no  longer  producing  bri- 
ars and  thorns,  but  bringing  forth  fruit  in  abundance  for 
its  almost  innumerable  inhabitants.  See  volcanoes  for- 
ever extinguished,  storms  hushed  to  peace,  the  bolt  of 
heaven  deprived  of  its  terrors,  the  earth  no  longer  trem- 
bling and  threatening  to  ingulph  its  inhabitants,  and  the 
air  no  longer  wafting  the  seeds  of  pestilence  and  death, 
Walk  through  the  villages,  and  behold  the  lion,  the  leop- 
ard and  bear,  grazing  with  domestic  animals  around  the 
habitations  of  man.  See  children  sporting  near  them, 
fearless  of  danger,  or  twining  around  their  bodies  the 
serpent  now  deprived  of  his  sting.    Walk  through  the 


40 


PRAYER  FOR  THE  ADVANCEMENT 


cities,  and  behold  every  countenance  bearing  the  traces 
of  he  ppiness  and  benevolence,  and  clothed  with  smiles 
indicative  of  the  peace  which  reigns  within. 

That  our  prayers  for  this  event  may  be  acceptable  to 
God,  two  things  are  indispensably  necessary.  The  first 
is,  that  they  be  accompanied  by  corresponding  exertions. 
If  it  is  our  duty  to  pray  for  the  advancement  of  Christ's 
kingdom,  it  is  no  less  our  duty  to  do  all  in  our  power  to 
promote  it,  to  use  all  our  influence  in  supporting  its  laws, 
and  in  bringing  others  to  obey  them,  especially  our  fam- 
ilies and  friends ;  and  when  occasion  requires,  to  con- 
tribute cheerfully  to  its  propagation  and  support.  He 
who  refuses  or  neglects  to  do  this,  cannot  sincerely  pray 
that  Christ's  kingdom  may  come  ;  nor  can  he  even  re- 
peat our  Lord's  prayer,  without  incurring  the  guilt  of 
formality  and  hypocrisy. 

The  second  thing  necessary  to  render  our  prayers  for 
the  advancement  of  Christ's  kingdom  sincere  and  ac- 
ceptable is,  that  we  become  the  willing  subjects  of  his 
kingdom  ourselves.  It  is  too  evident  to  require  proof, 
that  none  can  sincerely  desire  others  to  submit  to  the 
sceptre  of  Christ,  so  long  as  they  themselves  refuse  or 
neglect  to  obey  him  ;  nor  can  any  present  to  him  an  ac- 
ceptable petition,  who  do  not  unreservedly  comply  with 
his  requisitions.  Why  call  ye  me  Lord,  Lord  ;  and  do 
not  the  things  which  I  say  ?  Are  we,  then,  my  friends, 
the  willing  subjects  of  Christ  ?  This  question  may  be 
easily  answered  :  If  any  man,  says  the  Apostle,  be  in 
Christ,  he  is  a  new  creature.  Verily,  verily,  says  our 
Saviour,  except  a  man  be  born  again,  he  cannot  see  the 
kingdom  of  God.  If  then,  we  are  not  new  creatures,  if 
we  have  not  been  born  again,  we  are  not,  we  cannot  be, 
the  subjects  of  Christ's  kingdom.  And  it  becomes  us  to 
remember  that,  if  we  are  not  his  subjects,  we  must  be 
his  enemies  ;  for  he  has  himself  said,  He  that  is  not  with 
me  is  against  me.  But  he  is  willing,  he  waits  to  be  re- 
conciled. He  died  for  the  express  purpose  of  reconcil- 
ing offending  man  to  his  offended  God.  Come  then,  my 
friends,  if  you  have  not  already  done  it,  come,  and  touch 


of  Christ's  kingdom. 


41 


the  golden  sceptre  of  mercy,  which  he  now  holds  out  to 
you.  Open  wide  your  hearts,  that  the  King  of  glory 
may  come  in,  and  write  upon  them  his  law  of  love,  and 
set  up  his  throne  in  your  affections.  Like  the  Philip- 
pians,  first  give  your  own  selves  to  the  Lord,  and  then 
your  prayers  and  offerings  will  indeed  be  acceptable. 
You  will  find  by  experience,  that  Christ's  kingdom  is 
righteousness,  peace,  and  joy  ;  and  as  a  reward  for  obey- 
ing and  promoting  his  kingdom  on  earth,  he  will  finally 
advance  you  to  share  his  throne  and  kingdom  in  heaven5 
there  to  live  and  reign  with  him  forever  and  ever, 


4* 


SERMON  III. 


The  Fulness  of  God  Dwelling  in  Christ. 
COLOSSIANS  II.  9. 

IN  HIM  DWELLETH  ALL  THE  FULNESS  OF  THE  'GODHEAD  BODILY 

This  is  asserted  of  Jesus  Christ.  It  appears,  at  the 
<.  first  glance,  to  contain  most  important  truth  ;  truth 
which  cannot  but  be  interesting  to  all  who  wish  to  form 
just  conceptions  of  our  God  and  our  Redeemer.  In- 
deed there  are  few  passages  in  the  inspired  volume 
which  would  sooner  arrest  the  attention  and  excite  the 
inquiries  of  one  who  was  reading  it  for  the  first  time. 

I.  Let  us  endeavor  to  ascertain  its  import,  that  we 
may  learn  what  it  is  designed  to  teach  us. 

In  attempting  this  it  is  necessary  to  inquire  what  is 
meant  by  all  the  fulness  of  the  Godhead.  The  original 
word,  here  rendered  fulness,  signifies  that  by  which  any 
thing  is  filled,  completed,  or  made  perfect.  Thus  when 
it  is  said,  the  earth  is  the  LordTs  and  the  fulness  there- 
of; by  the  fulness  of  the  earth  is  evidently  meant,  all 
those  things  with  which  the  earth  is  filled,  or  every  thing 
which  it  contains.  So  by  the  fulness  of  the  Godhead 
is  meant,  all  that  the  Godhead  contains,  all  the  natural 
and  moral  attributes  of  Deity ;  every  thing,  in  short, 
which  renders  the  divine  nature  perfect  and  complete. 
This  phrase,  then,  includes  in  its  import,  the  whole  dei- 
ty or  divinity,  with  its  attributes  of  infinity,  eternity,  im- 
mutability, omnipotence,  omniscience,  omnipresence, 
holiness,  justice,  goodness,  mercy,  faithfulness  and  truth. 


THE  FULNESS  OF  GOO,  &C-.  43 


Should  it  be  thought  that  the  word  fulness  does  not 
necessarily  mean  so  much  as  this,  yet  it  must,  I  think, 
be  allowed,  that  all  the  fulness  of  the  Godhead  cannot 
mean  any  thing  less ;  for  if  any  one  perfection  or  attri- 
bute of  divinity  be  taken  away,  all  the  fulness  of  the 
Godhead  would  not  remain.  There  would  be  something 
wanting.  The  divine  nature  would  not  be  full ;  or  in 
other  words,  perfect  and  complete.  Wherever  then  all 
the  fulness  of  the  Godhead  dwells,  there  every  natural 
and  moral  attribute  of  divinity  will  be  found. 

Let  us  next  inquire  what  is  meant  by  the  assertion, 
that  all  this  fulness  dwells  in  Christ.  There  are,  in  the 
original,  two  words  which,  in  our  translation,  are  ren- 
dered to  dwell.  The  first  literally  signifies,  to  reside, 
as  in  a  tent  or  tabernacle,  and  is  used  to  denote  a  tem- 
porary residence.  This  word  is  used  by  St.  John  when 
he  says,  The  word  was  made  flesh,  and  dwelt  among  us  ; 
literally,  resided  among  us,  as  in  a  tabernacle  or  tempo- 
rary habitation.  The  other  word  signifies,  to  dwell  as 
in  a  house,  or  fixed  habitation,  and  is  always  used  to 
signify  a  more  permanent  residence ;  because  a  house 
is  permanent,  compared  With  a  tent.  Now  it  is  the 
latter  word,  the  word  that  signifies  a  permanent  residence, 
which  is  used  in  our  text.  The  import  of  the  assertion 
which  it  contains,  then,  is  this  :  All  the  fulness  of  the 
Godhead  resides  in  Jesus  Christ,  as  in  its  permanent, 
or  fixed  habitation. 

It  is  further  asserted  that  all  the  fulness  of  the  God- 
head dwells  in  him  bodily.  The  word  body  is  not  un- 
frequently  used  by  the  inspired  writers  to  signify  what  is 
real  and  substantial,  in  distinction  from  that  which  is 
shadowy,  figurative,  or  typical.  Thus  an  apostle,  speak- 
ing of  the  rites  and  ceremonies  of  the  Mosaic  law, 
says,  They  are  a  shadow  of  good  things  to  come,  but 
the  body,  that  is,  the  real  substance,  of  which  they  are 
only  shadows  or  types,  is  Christ.  In  a  similar  sense 
the  word  bodily  appears  to*  be  used  in  our  text.  It  sig- 
nifies really  or  substantially \  and  teaches  us  that  all  the 


44  THE  FULNESS  OF  GOD 

fulness  of  the  Godhead  dwells  in  Jesus  Christ,  not  in 
a  figurative  or  apparent,  but  in  a  real  sense. 

From  the  preceding  examination  of  the  several  parts 
of  our  text,  the  import  of  the  whole  appears  to  be  this  : 
The  whole  Deity,  with  all  its  natural  and  moral  attri- 
butes, actually  resides  in  Jesus  Christ,  as  in  a  fixed  or 
permanent  habitation. 

II.  Let  us  inquire,  whether  this  statement  of  the 
import  of  our  text  corresponds  with  other  parts  of  the 
inspired  volume.  A  very  slight  examination  will  con- 
vince us  that  it  does  so. 

In  the  first  place,  we  are  taught  in  many  passages  that 
the  Father  and  the  Spirit  dwell  in  Jesus  Christ.  Our 
Saviour  frequently  declared  that  the  Father  dwelt  in 
him,  and  added,  He  that  hath  seen  me  hath  seen  the 
Father.  And  the  Spirit  of  God,  the  Spirit  which  in- 
spired the  Jewish  prophets,  is  repeatedly  said  to  be  the 
Spirit  of  Christ.  He  is  also  represented  as  having  the 
Spirit  without  measure,  and  as  communicating  the 
Spirit  to  others.  Now  the  whole  Godhead  is  included 
in  the  Father,  the  Son  or  Word,  and  the  Holy  Spirit. 
Wherever  all  these  dwell,  all  the  fulness  of  the  God- 
head must  dwell.  But  we  have  seen  that  the  Father 
and  the  Spirit  dwell  in  Jesus  Christ.  And  all  allow 
that  the  Son  or  Word  dwells  in  him.  In  him,  therefore, 
the  whole  Godhead  dwells. 

In  the  second  place,  Jesus  Christ  is  represented  in 
many  parts  of  the  inspired  volume  as  possessing  and 
exercising  all  the  perfections  of  Deity.  We  are  inform- 
ed that  all  things  were  made  by  him,  that  without  him 
was  not  any  thing  made  which  was  made  ;  that  he  up- 
holds all  things  by  the  word  of  his  power,  and  that  all 
power  in  heaven  and  on  earth  is  his.  He  must  then  be 
Almighty.  We  are  informed  that  in  him  are  hidden  all 
the  treasures  of  wisdom  and  knowledge,  that  he  knows 
the  Father  even  as  the  Father  knows  him,  and  that  he 
knows  what  is  in  man.  Speaking  of  himself  he  says, 
all  the  churches  shall  know  that  I  am  he  who  searcheth 
the  heart.    He  must  then  be  omniscient.    We  are  in- 


DWELLING  IN  CHRIST. 


45 


formed  that  he  is  with  his  ministers  always  to  the  end 
of  the  world,  and  that  wherever  two  or  three  are  as- 
sembled in  his  name  he  is  in  the  midst  of  them.  While 
residing  on  earth,  he  spoke  of  himself  as  being  in  hea- 
ven, and  after  he  ascended  to  heaven  he  was  represent- 
ed as  still  being  on  earth.  He  must  then  be  omnipres- 
ent. In  fine,  we  are  informed  that  he  fills  all  things,  that 
he  filleth  all  in  all,  and  that  he  is  all  in  all.  In  him,  of 
whom  this  is  said,  all  the  fulness  of  the  Godhead  or  every 
natural  and  moral  attribute  of  the  Deity, must  surely  dwell. 

Having  thus  given  a  brief  statement  of  the  import  of 
our  text,  and  confirmed  the  truth  of  that  statement  by  an 
appeal  to  other  parts  of  revelation,  I  request  your  atten- 
tion to  some  important  inferences  which  naturally  result 
from  it. 

1.  If  all  the  fulness  of  the  Godhead  dwells  in  Jesus 
Christ,  then  in  Jesus  Christ  alone  can  God  be  found. 
The  scriptures  inform  us  that  mankind  have,  without  a 
single  exception,  forsaken  God,  that  they  have  all  gone 
out  of  the  way,  have  all  gone  astray  like  sheep,  and 
turned  every  one  to  his  own  way,  and  that  the  way  of 
peace  they  have  not  known.    Having  thus  wandered 
from  God,  they  have  lost  him,  lost  a  knowledge  of  him, 
lost  his  image,  lost  his  favor,  so  that  they  naturally  live 
without  God  in  the  world.    But  they  must  return  to 
him,  they  must  find  him  again,  or  be  lost  forever ;  for 
he  is  the  Father  of  lights,  the  Fountain  of  holiness  and 
felicity.    Agreeably,  an  apostle  declares  it  to  be  the 
will  of  God  that  the  sons  of  men  should  seek  after  him, 
if  peradventure  they  may  find  him.    Now  if  we  wish  to 
find  a  man  who  is  always  in  one  place,  we  must  go  to  that 
place,  go  to  his  residence.    It  is  vain  to  seek  him  or  to 
expect  to  find  him  anywhere  else.    So,  since  the  whole 
Godhead  resides  in  Jesus  Christ,  as  in  a  permanent  hab- 
itation, we  must  repair  to  Jesus  Christ,  if  we  would  find 
God.    We  shall  in  vain  attempt  to  find  him,  to  acquire 
a  knowledge  of  him,  or  to  regain  his  forfeited  favor,  if 
we  seek  him  anywhere  else.    Thus  the  scripture,  speak- 
ing of  spiritual  wisdom  and  understanding,  or,  in  other 


46 


THE  FULNESS  OF  GOD 


words,  of  the  knowledge  of  God,  says,  Where  shall  it  be 
found,  and  where  is  the  place  thereof?  Man  knoweth 
not  its  price,  neither  is  it  found  in  the  land  of  the  living. 
The  depth  saith,  it  is  not  in  me ;  the  sea  saith,  it  is  not 
with  me.  Where  then  is  its  place,  seeing  it  is  hid  from 
the  eyes  of  all  living?  God  understandeth  the  way 
thereof,  and  he  knoweth  the  place  thereof.  What  he 
knows  he  has  revealed  to  us.,  He  has  informed  us, 
that  it  is  all  placed  in  Jesus  Christ,  that  all  the  treasures 
of  wisdom  and  knowledge  are  laid  up  in  him.  In  him 
alone  then  can  we  find  God.  Accordingly  he  says,  I 
am  the  way  and  the  truth  and  the  life.  No  man  Com- 
eth to  the  Father  but  by  me.  No  one  knoweth  the 
Father  save  the  Son,  and  he  to  whom  the  Son  will  re- 
veal him.  Whosoever  denieth  the  Son,  the  same  hath 
not  the  Father.  Let  every  man  then,  who  would  find 
a  lost  God,  come  without  delay  to  Jesus  Christ,  in  whom 
Jie  dwells.  In  him,  God  is,  if  I  may  so  express  it,  al- 
ways at  home.  In  him  he  will  always  be  found.  No 
where  else  will  any  find  him.  They  may  seek  him  in 
the  works  of  creation  ;  they  may  search  for  him  in  the 
dispensations  of  his  providence  ;  they  may  look  for  him 
in  his  word  ;  but  never  will  they  find  him,  till  they  come 
to  Jesus  Christ ;  for  even  the  scriptures,  we  are  informed, 
make  men  wise  unto  salvation  only  through  faith  in 
Christ  Jesus.  But  if  we  come  to  him,  we  shall  be 
enabled  to  say  with  the  primitive  Christians,  God,  who 
commanded  the  light  to  shine  out  of  darkness,  hath 
shined  in  our  hearts,  to  give  us  the  light  of  the  knowl- 
edge of  the  glory  of  God  in  the  face  of  Jesus  Christ. 

On  hearing  these  remarks  some  will  perhaps  say,  we 
do  not  understand  what  is  meant  by  finding  God.  It  is 
not  easy  to  make  an  impenitent  sinner  understand  what 
is  meant  by  this  expression,  though  it  is  perfectly  un- 
derstood by  every  real  disciple  of  Christ.  So  far  as  it 
can  be  explained  to  others,  I  will,  however,  endeavor 
to  explain  it.  To  a  careless,  thoughtless  sinner,  God 
does  not  appear  to  be  a  present  reality.  He  may  assent 
to  the  fact  that  God  is  every  where  present,  but  he  does 


DWELLING  IN  CHRIST 


47 


not  feel  bis  presence,  it  does  not  appear  real  to  him  9 
it  does  not  affect  him,  it  does  not  influence  his  conduct. 
He  comes,  perhaps,  to  the  house  of  God  on  the  Sab- 
bath. He  is  told  that  God  is  here ;  but  he  does  not 
perceive  his  presence.  There  is  no  weighty  impression 
upon  his  spirits  of  a  present  God,  none  of  that  awe  or 
reverence  or  godly  fear  which  the  presence  of  God  ought 
to  produce.  He  hears  hymns  sung  in  which  strong 
emotions  of  admiration,  gratitude  and  love  to  God  are 
expressed  ;  but  he  does  neither  feel  such  emotions  him- 
self, nor  perceive  any  thing  to  excite  them  in  others. 
He  stands  up  to  pray,  but  he  perceives  no  being  pres- 
ent to  whom  his  prayers  may  be  addressed.  If  he  has 
been  taught  that  prayer  is  a  duty,  he  may  perhaps  enter 
his  closet,  and  attempt  to  pray.  But  he  does  not  feel 
that  God  is  present  there  to  hear  him.  He  speaks  as  it 
were  into  the  air,  and  his  prayers,  as  such  a  person 
once  expressed  it,  do  not  seem  to  rise  above  his  head,  do 
not  appear  to  ascend  to  heaven.  Should  his  conscience 
be  awakened,  and  should  he  in  consequence  begin  to  feel 
that  there  is  a  God,  and  to  cry  for  mercy,  God  appears 
to  be  at  a  great  distance  from  him,  and  he  cannot  come 
near,  cannot  find  any  way  in  which  to  approach  him. 
He  cannot  understand  what  the  Apostle  meant  when  he 
said  to  Christians,  ye  who  were  formerly  afar  off  are 
now  brought  near  by  the  blood  of  Christ.  But  let  such 
a  man  come  to  Christ,  in  whom  all  the  fulness  of  the 
Godhead  dwells,  and  a  great  change  will  take  place  in 
his  views  and  feelings.  God  will  then  become  to  him 
a  present  and  most  interesting  reality.  Then  he  will 
perceive  his  presence  every  where,  especially  in  his 
closet,  and  in  places  of  public  worship.  His  heart  will 
glow  with  those  emotions  which  are  expressed  in  the 
songs  of  praise  ;  his  affections  and  desires  will  ascend  to 
heaven  with  the  public  prayers,  and  in  private  devotion 
he  will  be  able  to  say  with  the  Psalmist,  It  is  good  for 
me  to  draw  near  to  God  ;  and  instead  of  living  as  he 
once  did,  without  God  in  the  world,  he  will  like  the 
primitive  saints  walk  with  God. 


48 


THE  FULNESS  OF  GOD 


2.  If  all  the  fulness  of  the  Godhead  dwelleth  in  Christ, 
then  no  man  can  obtain  a  portion  of  that  fulness,  except 
by  applying  to  Christ.  The  truth  of  the  inference  is  so 
obvious  as  scarcely  to  require  either  illustration  or  proof. 
Did  all  the  light  in  the  universe  dwell  in  the  sun,  no 
man,  it  is  evident,  could  obtain  light  except  from  the 
sun.  Were  all  the  water  which  exists  in  the  world  col- 
lected into  one  reservoir,  no  man  it  is  obvious  could  ob- 
tain water  without  applying  to  that  reservoir.  Equally 
evident  is  it  that,  since  all  the  fulness  of  the  Godhead 
dwells  in  Christ,  no  man  can  obtain  a  portion  of  that 
fulness  without  applying  to  Christ.  This  truth  will  ap- 
pear exceedingly  important  and  interesting  to  all  who 
are  aware  of  the  fact,  that  unless  we  can  obtain  a  por- 
tion of  the  fulness  of  God,  we  must  pine  in  eternal  want. 
The  mercy  which  pardons  sin,  the  divine  light  which 
illuminates  the  understanding,  the  grace  which  purifies 
the  heart,  the  strength  which  resists  temptation,  over- 
comes the  world,  and  endures  to  the  end  ;  the  consola- 
tion which  supports  the  soul  under  trials  and  afflictions; 
the  triumphant  faith,  and  the  hope  full  of  immortality, 
which  are  requisite  to  give  victory  over  death,  and  all 
the  everlasting  joys  and  glories  of  heaven  flow  from  the 
fulness  of  God,  and  no  man  can  partake  of  them  without 
partaking  of  that  fulness.  A  participation  of  that  fulness 
is  then  the  one  thing  needful  to  every  child  of  Adam  ; 
and  better,  infinitely  better  would  it  be  for  any  one  to  be 
destitute  of  every  thing  else  than  to  want  this.  Better 
would  it  be  for  us  to  be  deprived  of  possessions,  friends, 
reputation,  health,  sense  and  reason,  than  to  lose  forever 
this  one  thing  needful.  If  any  think  that  this  is  too  strong 
language,  I  answer,  it  is  not  stronger  language  than  the 
scriptures  warrant  us  to  use.  They  represent  it  as  the 
greatest  of  all  blessings  to  partake  of  this  fulness  ;  and 
the  want  of  it  as  of  all  evils  the  most  terrible.  Address- 
ing those  who  were  destitute  of  it,  our  Saviour  declares 
that  they  were  poor  and  miserable,  and  wretched,  and 
blind,  and  naked.  At  the  same  time,  he  counsels  them 
to  come  to  him  for  a  supply ;  thus  intimating  that  from 


DWELLING  IN  CHRIST. 


49 


him  alone  they  could  obtain  it.  All  his  invitations  speak 
the  same  language.  When  he  stood  and  cried,  If  any 
man  thirst,  let  him  come  unto  me  and  drink ;  that  is,  if 
any  man  feels  a  want,  let  him  come  unto  me  and  receive 
a  supply,  he  plainly  intimated  that  in  him  alone  the  water 
of  life  could  be  found,  that  by  him  alone,  human  wants 
could  be  supplied.  Well  then,  might  an  apostle  exclaim 
respecting  him,  Neither  is  there  salvation  in  any  other. 

3.  From  the  fact  that  all  the  fulness  of  the  Godhead 
resides  in  Jesus  Christ,  we  may  infer  the  necessity  and 
the  worth  of  that  faith  in  him,  on  which  the  inspired 
writers  lay  so  much  stress.    That  you  may  have  just 
views  of  this  subject,  look  first  at  him.    See  in  him  an 
infinite,  inexhaustible  fulness  of  all  spiritual  blessings ; 
„  a  fulness  of  light  sufficient  to  illuminate  all  minds;  of 
mercy  to  pardon  all  sins ;  of  grace  to  sanctify  all  hearts; 
of  happiness  to  make  all  human  beings  forever  blessed. 
Then  turn  and  look  at  mankind.    See  them  as  they  are 
described  in  the  word  of  God,  spiritually  blind,  sinful, 
guilty  and  wretched.    Now  what  is  necessary  to  banish 
all  their  evils,  supply  all  their  wants,  and  secure  to  them 
endless  felicity  ?    Is  any  thing,  can  any  thing  more  be 
necessary,  than  to  form  such  a  channel  of  communica- 
tion between  them  and  Jesus  Christ,  that  the  fulness  of 
the  Godhead  which  dwells  in  him  may  flow  out  to  them. 
If  such  a  channel  could  be  formed,  would  not  this  ful- 
ness of  light,  mercy,  grace,  and  felicity  pour  itself  into 
their  souls  till,  in  the  language  of  an  apostle,  they  were 
filled  with  all  the  fulness  of  God.    My  hearers5  faith, 
faith  in  Christ,  and  faith  alone  does  form  such  a  channel 
of  communication  as  this.    This  is  the  appointment  of 
God.    He  has  established  such  a  constitution,  that  when- 
ever any  sinner  begins  to  exercise  faith  in  Christ,  he 
shall  begin  to  partake  of  that  fulness  which  dwells  in 
Christ,  and  the  degree  in  which  he  partakes  of  this  ful- 
ness, will  be  just  in  proportion  to  the  strength  of  his  faith. 
We  may  illustrate  this  truth  by  a  reference  to  events 
which  took  place  during  his  residence  on  earth.  The 


5 


I 

I 

§9  THE  FULNESS  OP  GOD 

whole  multitude,  we  are  informed,  sought  to  touch  him  5 
for  there  went  virtue  out  of  him,  and  healed  them  all. 
On  another  occasion,  a  diseased  female  said,  if  I  may 
but  touch  the  hem  of  his  garment,  I  shall  be  whole. 
She  did  touch  it,  and  healing  virtue  instantly  flowed  in- 
to her  enfeebled  frame.    In  both  these  cases,  it  was  the 
louch  of  faith  which  drew  virtue  from  Christ.  They 
touched  him,  because  they  believed,  or  had  faith  that 
there  was  in  him  virtue  sufficient  to  heal  their  diseases. 
Agreeably,  our  Saviour  said  to  the  patient  last  mention* 
ed,  Thy  faith  hath  saved  thee.    Just  so  now,  when  a 
sinner,  who  feels  that  he  is  sick  in  soul,  exercises  faith 
in  Christ,  though  he  cannot,  as  then,  manifest  his  faith 
by  touching  him,  yet  he  finds  that  a  spiritual  healing  virtue 
In  imparted  to  him.    He  finds  that  his  understanding  is 
enlightened,  that  his  sins  are  pardoned,  that  bis  wound- 
ed conscience  is  healed,  that  his  heart  is  sanctified,  and 
that  peace  and  happiness,  such  as  he  never  tasted  or 
e^en  conceived  of  before,  are  shed  abroad  within/  him. 
Hence  an  apostle  informs  us,  that  he  who  believeth  on 
the  Son  of  God  hath  the  witness  in  himself,  that  is,  the 
happy  effects  which  result  to  him  from  believing,  are  a 
witness  within  that  there  is  such  a  person  as  Jesus  Christ, 
and  that  to  believe  in  him  is  to  partake  of  his  fulness. 
These  effects  of  faith  are  illustrated  by  our  Saviour  him- 
self in  an  address  to  his  disciples.    I,  says  he,  am  the 
vine,  ye  are  the  branches.    This  comparison  he  pursues 
at  considerable  length,  and  clearly  teaches  them,  that 
by  faith  a  union  was  formed  between  him  and  them, 
analagous  to  that  which  exists  between  a  vine  and  its 
branches,  and  that  as  life  and  sap  flow  from  the  vine  into 
every  branch,  so  his  fulness  flows  into  the  souls  of  all 
who  believe  in  him.    Hence  an  apostle,  speaking  of  be- 
lievers, says,  Of  his  fulness  have  we  all  received.  Well 
then,  might  St.  Peter  call  faith  in  Christ,  precious  faith  ; 
for  what  can  be  more  precious  than  that  which  forms  an 
indissoluble  union^  and  a  free  communication  between 
a  lost,  needy,  guilty  sinner,  and;,  a  Saviour  in  whom 


DWELLING  IN  CHRIST.  M 

dwells  all  the  fulness  of  the  Godhead.  He  who  has  this 
faith  is  incalculably  rich,  though  he  should  possess 
nothing  else  ;  and  he  who  has  it  not,  is  miserably  poor, 
though  he  should  possess  all  which  the  world  can  give  ; 
for 

4.  If  all  the  fulness  of  the  Godhead  dwells  in  Jesus 
Christ,  then  he  who  is  destitute  of  faith  in  Christ,  or  he 
who  has  never  made  a  believing  application  to  Christ, 
has  no  share  in  that  fulness.  His  mind  is  not  enlight- 
ened ;  his  sins  are  not  pardoned  ;  his  heart- is  not  sanc- 
tified, he  has  no  part  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  It  is 
written  that,  though  he  who  believeth  on  the  Son  hath 
everlasting  life,  yet  he  who  believeth  not  the  Son  is  con- 
demned already  and  shall  not  see  life,  but  the  wrath  of 
God  abideth  on  him.  It  is  true  that  such  a  man  may 
have  many  qualities  which  appear  amiable  and  estimable 
in  the  view  of  men  5  his  moral  character  may  be  fair,  and 
he  may  possess  the  external  form  of  religion.  But  he 
has  not  a  particle  of  that  fulness  which  dwells  in  Christ, 
and  his  doom  is  pronounced  in  those  words  of  our  Sa- 
viour, From  him  that  hath  not,  shall  be  taken  away  even 
that  which  he  seemeth  to  have. 

5.  Does  all  the  fulness  of  trie  Godhead  dwell  in  Jesus 
Christ  ?  Then  all  the  spiritual  wisdom,  knowledge,  holi- 
ness, and  happiness  which  exists  in  the  world,  and  all 
which  is  possessed  by  the  spirits  of  just  men  made  per- 
fect in  heaven,  proceeds  from  him.  You  cannot  find 
either  on  earth  or  in  heaven,  a  good  man  who  does  not 
derive  all  his  goodness  from  Christ,  or  who  will  not  hum- 
bly and  gratefully  acknowledge  that  he  does  so  ;  one 
who  will  not  say  with  St.  Paul,  I  live,  yet  not  I,  but 
Christ  liveth  in  me ;  and  the  life  which  I  now  live  in  the 
flesh,  I  live  by  faith  in  the  Son  of  God  ;  that  is,  my  spir- 
itual life  is  constantly  supported  by  supplies  which  faith 
draws  from  him.  And  how  amiable,  how  glorious,  how 
worthy  of  all  love,  admiration,  and  praise,  does  our  Sa- 
viour appear  in  the  view  of  these  truths.  See  him  con- 
taining in  himself  all  the  infinite  fulness  of  Deity.  See 


52 


THE  FULNESS  OF  GOD 


myriads  of  his  believing  disciples  in  all  parts  of  the  world 
daily,  hourly,  living  upon  this  fulness,  and  drawing  from 
him  those  supplies  which  are  necessary  to  the  promotion 
and  advancement  of  religion  within  them.  Every  hour 
virtue  flows  out  of  him,  to  heal  them  all.  Some  of  them 
are  poor,  some  of  them  afflicted,  some  of  them  tempted, 
some  of  them  sick,  some  of  them  dying  ;  yet  to  all  and 
to  each,  he  imparts  just  what  their  situation  requires. 
To  each  he  says,  My  grace  is  sufficient  for  thee.  And 
while  he  is  thus  imparting  grace  to  many  thousands  on 
earth  he  is  pouring  a  flood  of  glory  and  felicity  into  ten 
thousand  times  ten  thousand  of  his  servants  in  heaven, 
filling  them  to  overflowing  with  all  the  fulness  of  God. 
And  who  can  conceive  the  benevolence,  the  tenderness, 
the  compassion,  with  which  he  looks  down  on  his  great 
family,  and  sees  them  all  deriving  life  and  nourishment 
From  him  !  Must  not  the  affectionate  feelings  with  which 
he  regards  them,  far  exceed  in  tenderness,  in  intensity, 
those  with  which  a  mother  contemplates  the  infant  to 
which  she  gives  support.  Can  we  disbelieve  him  when 
he  says  to  his  church,  Though  a  mother  should  forget 
her  infant  son,  yet  will  I  not  forget  thee.  And  if  there 
is  happiness  in  doing  good,  in  communicating  happiness, 
how  exquisitely  happy  must  our  Saviour  be!  If  we 
should  feel  exquisite  gratification  in  feeding  a  hundred 
famished  orphans,  what  must  he  feel  while  he  feeds  so 
many  thousands  of  once  perishing  immortal  souls  with 
the  bread  and  water  of  life  ! 

6.  Does  all  the  fulness  of  the  Godhead  dwell  in  Jesus 
Christ  ?  How  safe,  how  happy,  how  enviable  then  is 
the  situation  of  those,  who  believe  in  him  ?  They  are 
inseparably  united  to  one  in  whom  all  the  fulness  of  the 
Godhead  permanently  dwells  ;  a  way  of  communication 
is  opened  by  which  this  fulness  will  forever  flow  out  to 
them.  What  more  can  they  wish  for,  or  conceive  of  ? 
Well  might  our  Saviour  say  to  one  in  this  situation,  I 
know  thy  poverty,  but  thou  art  rich  :  poor  in  thyself, 
but  rich  in  me.    My  professing  friends,  if  you  are  what 


DWELLING  IN  CHRIST 


53 


you  profess  to  be,  this  enviable  situation  is  yours.  If 
you  would  enjoy  all  its  advantages,  you  must  pray  un- 
ceasingly for  increasing  faith,  since  the  supplies  which 
you  obtain  from  the  fulness  of  Christ  will  be  in  exact 
proportion  to  the  strength  and  constancy  of  your  faith. 
And  if  you  wish  your  faith  to  be  strong,  you  must  look 
not  at  your  own  emptiness  merely,  but  at  his  fulness ; 
not  at  your  poverty,  but  at  his  riches.  You  must  con- 
template him  as  he  is  exhibited  in  our  text.  You  must 
endeavor  to  obtain  enlarged  views  of  what  is  meant  by 
all  the  fulness  of  the  Godhead.  You  must  remember 
that  he  loves  to  impart  it,  that  he  has  promised  to  impart 
it,  that  he  cannot  but  impart  it  to  all  who  believe  in  him  ; 
and  that  his  language  to  every  believer  is,  My  grace  is 
sufficient  for  thee,  for  my  strength  is  made  perfect  in  thy 
weakness.  And  remember  too,  that  when  you  approach 
his  table,  if  you  come  in  a  proper  manner,  you  come  to 
Christ  himself;  if  you  receive  these  sacramental  symbols 
in  a  proper  manner,  you  will  receive  Christ  himself,  and 
of  course  will  receive  a  portion  of  that  fulness  which 
dwells  in  him.  If  you  do  this,  you  will  know  experi- 
mentally the  truth  of  his  declaration,  My  flesh  is  meat 
indeed,  and  my  blood  is  drink  indeed.  He  that  eateth 
my  flesh  and  drinketh  my  blood,  dwelleth  in  me  and  I 
in  him ;  and  I  will  raise  him  up  at  the  last  day. 

Finally,  does  all  the  fulness  of  the  Godhead  reside  in 
Jesus  Christ  ?  then  let  every  one  present,  who  has  not 
already  done  it,  be  persuaded  to  apply  to  him  for  a  share 
of  this  fulness.  That  you  may  be  induced  to  take  this 
step,  let  me  ask,  is  there  nothing  in  all  this  fulness  which 
you  need  ?  Have  you  all  the  spiritual  wisdom  and 
knowledge  which  you  need  ?  Have  you  no  sins  to  be 
pardoned,  no  sinful  propensities  to  be  subdued,  no  temp- 
tations to  overcome  ?  Is  your  preparation  for  death, 
and  for  heaven  completed  ?  Have  you  provision  made 
sufficient  to  supply  your  wants  through  eternity  ?  If 
not,  I  invite  you,  in  Christ's  name,  to  come  to  him  for  a 
supply.    I  invite  you  to  a  friend,  a  brother,  in  whom  all 


54  THE  FULNESS  OF  COD,  &C. 

the  fulness  of  the  Godhead  dwells,  and  who  will  take 
far  more  pleasure  in  imparting  to  you  this  fulness,  than 
you  will  in  receiving  it ;  for  he  says  himself,  It  is  more 
blessed  to  give  than  to  receive.  But  why  do  I  invite 
you.  Let  me  rather  set  before  you  his  own  invitation. 
Come  unto  me,  all  ye  that  labor  and  are  heavy  laden, 
and  I  will  give  you  rest.  If  any  man  thirst,  let  him  come 
unto  me  and  drink.  The  Spirit  and  the  bride  say, 
Come  ;  and  let  him  that  heareth  say,  Come ;  and  let 
him  that  is  athirst  come ;  and  whosoever  will,  let  him 
come  and  take  of  the  water  of  life  freely. 


SERMON  IV. 

Christ  and  his  Harbinger  compared  and  distinguished, 
MATTHEW  III.  11  12. 

I  INDEED  BAPTIZE  YOU  WITH  WATER  UNTO  REPENTANCE  )  BUT  HE 
THAT  COMETH  AFTER  ME  IS  MIGHTIER  THAN  I  J  WHOSE  SHOES 
I  AM  NOT  WORTHY  TO  BEAR  ;  HE  SHALL  BAPTIZE  YOU  WITH  THE 
HOLY  GHOST  AND  WfTH  FIRE  J  WHOSE  FAN  IS  IN  HIS  HANDj 
AND  HE  WILL  THOROUGHLY  PURGE  HIS  FLOOR,  AND  GATHER  Hlfc 
WHEAT  INTO  THE  GARNER  )  BUT  HE  WILL  BURN  UP  THE  CHAFF 
WITH  UNQUENCHABLE  FIRE. 

These  words  were  uttered  by  John  the  Baptist  with 
reference  to  Christ.  On  many  accounts  they  richly 
deserve  our  attention.  John  was  raised  up,  commis- 
sioned, and  sent  to  be  the  harbinger  of  the  Messiah. 
He  came,  as  we  are  told  by  the  apostle,  to  bear  witness 
of  Christ  the  true  light,  that  through  him  all  men  might 
believe.  He  was  the  morning  star  which  preceded  and 
indicated  the  approach  of  the  Sun  of  Righteousness. 
In  the  language  of  the  prophet  who  foretold  his  birth, 
he  was  the  voice  of  one  crying  in  the  wilderness,  Pre- 
pare ye  the  way  of  the  Lord ;  make  straight  in  the  de- 
sert a  high  way  for  our  God.  In  a  word,  as  it  was  in 
those  days  customary  for  monarchs  to  be  preceded  by  a 
herald,  who  proclaimed  their  titles,  their  approach,  and: 
the  object  of  their  coming,  so  Christ  the  Prince  of  Peace 
the  King  of  Kings,  and  the  Lord  of  lords  was  prece- 
ded by  John  the  baptist,  as  a  herald,  who  announced  his 
approach,  and  turned  the  attention  of  them  that  heard 
him  from  himself  to  his  divine  Master.  This  being  the 
case,  the  testimony  which  he  bore  in  favor  of  Christ 


V 


$6  CHRIST  AND  HIS  HARBINGER 

is  fully  entitled  to  belief,  and  well  deserves  our  attention. 
This  testimony  is  principally  contained  in  the  passage 
before  us.  Let  us  then  attentively  consider  the  import 
of  the  passage,  that  we  may  learn  from  it  what  we  are 
to  believe  respecting  Christ. 

The  great  object  of  John  the  Baptist,  as  it  will 
be  of  all  who  preach  Christ,  appears  to  have  been,  to 
give  his  hearers  high  and  exalted  conceptions  of  the 
transcendent  worth  and  dignity  of  his  Master.  With 
this  view  he  describes  in  the  most  energetic  language 
Christ's  superiority.  He  that  cometh  after  me  is  migh- 
r  tier  than  I,  whose  shoes  I  am  not  worthy  to  bear.  To 
unloose  a  person's  shoes  or  sandals  and  bear  them  after 
him,  was  considered  by  the  Jews  as  the  most  servile 
and  degrading  of  all  menial  employments,  and  fit  only 
for  the  meanest  slaves.  Yet  John  considered  the  per- 
formance even  of  this  service  for  Christ,  as  an  honor 
of  which  he  was  utterly  unworthy.  If  we  would  feel 
the  full  force  of  this  language  and  learn  what  concep- 
tion it  should  lead  us  to  form  of  Christ,  we  must  recol- 
lect by  whom  it  was  uttered.  It  was  the  language  of 
no  common  person.  It  was  uttered  by  one  who  was  by 
birth  one  of  the  chief  priests,  an  order  of  men  who 
sustained  a  high  rank  in  the  estimation  of  the  Jews.  It 
was  uttered  by  one  whose  appearance  in  the  world  had 
been  repeatedly  predicted  for  some  hundreds  of  years, 
whose  conception  was  foretold  by  an  angel  and  accom- 
*  panied  by  miracles  5  who  was  born  contrary  to  the  com- 
mon course  of  nature ;  who  was  filled  with  the  Holy 
Ghost  from  the  moment  of  his  birth,  who  was  favored 
with  the  gift  of  prophecy,  after  that  blessing  had  been 
withheld  from  the  world  almost  four  hundred  years ; 
who  was  admired,  followed,  and  applauded,  in  an  unex- 
ampled degree,  by  all  classes  of  men  from  the  least  to 
the  greatest,  and  who  by  many  was  thought  to  be  the 
promised  Messiah  himself.  To  say  all  in  a  word,  it 
was  uttered  by  one  of  whom  the  Son  of  God,  the  faith- 
ful and  true  witness  has  said,  he  is  a  prophet,  yea  I  say 


COMPARED  AND  DISTINGUISHED.  57 

unto  you,  and  more  than  a  prophet ;  for  among  them 
that  are  born  of  women  there  has  not  risen  a  greater 
than  John  the  Baptist.  Yet  even  this  illustrious  person- 
age, so  favored,  so  honored,  so  distinguished,  publicly 
declared  himself,  in  the  presence  of  his  followers  and 
admirers,  not  worthy  to  perform  the  most  servile  and  de- 
grading office  for  Christ.  What  then  must  he  have 
thought  of  Christ  ?  Did  he  view  him  only  as  a  man,  as 
some  others  have  done  ?  To  have  used  such  language 
respecting  any  man,  would  have  been  the  grossest  flatte- 
ry ;  and  surely  he  who  boldly  dared  reprove  the  tyran- 
nical Herod  in  his  own  court,  would  never  have  stooped 
to  use  flattering  words  respecting  a  fellow  creature.  Is 
it  not  then  evident,  or  at  least  highly  probable,  that  he 
must  have  regarded  Christ  as  divine  ?  The  prophet 
who  foretold  his  birth  represents  him  as  saying,  Pre- 
pare ye  the  way  of  the  Lord  ;  make  straight  in  the  desert 
ahighway  for  our  God.  Another  prophet  represents 
him  as  going  before  the  face  of  the  Lord  to  prepare  his 
way.  Now  if  these  predictions  were  fulfilled,  it  is  evi- 
dent that  John  must  have  considered  Christ,  whose  har- 
binger he  was,  and  whose  way  he  came  to  prepare,  as 
the  Lord  God  who  was  to  come  as  a  shepherd  with  a 
strong  hand,  whose  reward  was  with  him  and  his  work 
before  him.  On  this  supposition  alone  can  we  ration- 
ally account  for  the  manner  in  which  he  here  speaks  of 
Christ. 

With  a  view  to  convince  the  people  still  farther  of 
his  inferiority  to  Christ,  he  next  proceeded  to  shew 
them  how  far  the  baptism  administered  by  Christ  would 
exceed  his  own.  I  indeed  baptize  with  water  unto  re- 
pentance, but  he  that  cometh  after  me  shall  baptize  you 
with  the  Holy  Ghost  and  with  fire.  Though  the  church 
of  God  had  been  favored,  from  its  first  establishment  in 
the  world,  with  the  influences  of  the  divine  Spirit,  yet 
under  the  Old  Testament  dispensation  these  influences 
were  communicated,  comparatively  speaking,  but  in  a 
small  degree.    Even  after  the  coming  of  Christ,  but 


5S  CHRIST  AND  HIS  HARBINGER 

previous  to  his  death,  we  are  told  that  the  Holy  Ghost 
was  not  yet  given,  because  Jesus  was  not  yet  glorified  ; 
and  our  Saviour  himself  represents  the  gift  of  the  Spir- 
it as  inseparably  connected  with  his  ascension  to  heaven ; 
If  I  go  not  away,  the  Comforter,  the  Spirit  of  truth, 
will  not  come ;  but  if  I  depart,  I  will  send  him  to  you. 
Even  the  Old  Testament  prophets  were  inspired  to  pre- 
dict this  truth.  Addressing  Christ,  as  if  he  had  alrea- 
dy come,  the  psalmist  says,  Thou  hast  ascended  up  on 
high,  thou  hast  received  gifts  for  men,  yea,  for  the  re- 
bellious also,  that  the  Lord  God  might  dwell  among 
them.  This  prediction  the  apostle  expressly  applies  to 
Christ,  and  teaches  us  that  it  was  fulfilled  at  his  ascen- 
sion. It  was  also  foretold  by  the  prophet  Isaiah  that 
Christ  should  sprinkle  many  nations.  This  must  refer, 
chiefly  at  least,  to  his  baptizing  them  with  the  Holy 
Ghost,  of  which  John  speaks  in  our  text :  for  Christ 
personally  baptized  none  with  water.  All  these  predic- 
tions were  literally  fulfilled  at  tbfe  day  of  pentecost,  when 
there  came  from  heaven  a  sound  as  of  a  rushing  mighty 
wind,  which  filled  the  place  where  the  disciples  were 
assembled,  and  there  appeared  unto  them  cloven  tongues, 
like  as  of  fire,  which  sat  upon  each  of  them  ;  and  they 
were  all  filled  with  the  Holy  Ghost.  Another  similar 
instance  of  the  fulfilment  of  these  predictions  was  wit- 
nessed by  St.  Peter  while  preaching  to  Cornelius  and 
his  friends.  The  Holy  Ghost,  we  are  told,  fell  on  all 
who  heard  him,  and  he  remembered  the  word  of  the 
Lord,  how  he  said,  John  indeed  baptized  with  water, 
but  ye  shall  be  baptized  by  the  Holy  Ghost. 

From  the  account  of  the  baptism  administered  by  our 
Saviour,  it  is  easy  to  see  how  far  it  was  superior  to  the 
baptism  of  John.  John  baptized  with  water  those  who 
professed  repentance  for  sin ;  but  the  baptism  of  the 
Holy  Ghost  produced  in  those  to  whom  it  was  admin- 
istered, repentance  and  faith  and  all  the  other  fruits  of 
the  Spirit.  John's  baptism  could  only  put  away  the 
filth  of  the  flesh ;  but  Christ's  baptism  by  purifying  the 


COMPARED  AND  DISTINGUISHED, 


conscience  from  dead  works,  produced  the  answer  of  a 
good  conscience  toward  God.    He  was  the  Lamb  of 
God  who  taketh  away  the  sin  of  the  world,  and  whose 
blood  cleanses  from  all  sin.    John's  baptism  could  be 
applied  to  the  body  only  ?  it  could  not  reach  the  soul 
nor  change  the  character  of  those  who  received  it. 
But  the  baptism  of  the  Spirit  converted  and  purified  the 
soul,  and  they  who  received  it  were  washed  and  justifi- 
ed and  sanctified  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus  and  by 
the  Spirit  of  our  God,  however  vile  and  abandoned 
they  had  been  before.    In  a  word,  John  could  at  most 
confer  only  the  sign ;  but  Christ  gave  the  thing  signified 
in  his  baptism,  a  baptism  with  which  John,  like  all  oth- 
ers of  our  fallen  race,  needed  to  be  baptized,  as  he 
himself  ingenuously  confessed.    Hence  it  is  easy  to  see 
how  much  this  testimonv  of  John  tended  to  exalt  our 
Saviour  in  the  opinion  of^  his  hearers.    It  was  as  if  he 
had  said  to  them,  He  who  comes  after  me  can  cleanse 
the  soul  as  easily  as  I  can  the  body,  he  can  confer  the 
thing  signified  as  easily  as  I  can  confer  the  sign  ;  he  can 
pour  out  the  Holy  Spirit  upon  you  as  easily  as  I  can  ap- 
ply water.    This  expression,  like  the  former,  intimates 
with  sufficient  clearness  that  the  Baptist  believed  Christ 
to  be  God  ;  for  who  but  God  can  pour  out  upon  men 
the  Spirit  of  God  ?    Who  but  he  that  possesses  the 
Spirit  can  baptize  sinners  with  the  Spirit  ?    As  a  farther 
confirmation  of  this  truth,  permit  me*lo  call  your  atten- 
tion to  another  passage,  which  has  not  received  the  at- 
tention which  it  deserves.    We  are  told  by  St.  John  that 
Jesus  after  his  resurrection  breathed  upon  his  disciples, 
saying,  Receive  ye  the  Holy  Spirit.    That  we  may  per- 
ceive the  full  force  and  meaning  of  this  significant  ac- 
tion, it  is  necessary  to  recollect  that,  in  both  the  Hebrew 
and  Greek  languages,  the  same  word[signifies  spirit  and 
breath.    Now  if  Christ  could  breathe  the  Spirit  of  God 
into  the  souls  of  his  disciples,  or,  in  other  words,  if  the 
breath  or  spirit  of  Christ  be  the  breath  or  spirit  of  God, 
then  beyond  all  controversy  Christ  must  be  God  ;  and 


60 


CHRIST  AND  HI3  HARBINGER 


by  the  action  and  the  words  which  accompanied  it,  he 
most  forcibly  intimated  that  he  was  so. 

Still  farther  to  enlarge  his  hearers'  conception  of  the 
infinite  superiority  of  Christ  above  himself,  the  Baptist 
proceeds  to  state  the  character  which  Christ  should  sus- 
tain, and  the  works  which  he  would  perform ;  Whose 
fan  is  in  his  hand  and  he  shall  thoroughly  purge  his 
floor,  and  gather  his  wheat  into  the  garner;  but  he  will 
burn  up  the  chaff  with  unquenchable  fire.  In  these 
words  there  is  an  evident  allusion  to  a  prediction  of  the 
prophet  Malachi,  which  foretells  the  coming  both  of 
Christ  and  of  John  his  harbinger.  Jehovah  is  there 
represented  as  saying,  Behold  I  will  send  my  messen- 
ger, and  he  shall  prepare  the  way  before  me,  and  Jeho- 
vah whom  ye  seek  shall  come  suddenly  into  his  temple ; 
even  the  angel  of  the  covenant  whom  ye  delight  in. 
But  who  may  abide  the  day  of  his  coming,  and  who 
shall  stand  when  he  appeareth  ?  For  he  shall  sit  as 
a  refiner  and  purifier  of  silver  and  he  shall  purify  the 
sons  of  Levi  and  purge  them  as  gold  and  silver,  that 
they  may  offer  unto  the  Lord  an  offering  in  righteous- 
ness. In  a  similar  manner  the  Baptist  here  represents 
him  as  purifying  the  church,  which  he  compares  to  a 
threshing  floor,  the  true  members  of  which  are  as  wheat 
and  the  false  as  chaff.  When  he  calls  the  church 
Christ's  floor,  he  plainly  intimates  that  while  he  was 
himself  only  a  servant  in  the  church,  Christ  is  the  head 
of  the  church  ;  and  when  he  represents  him  as  separa- 
ting the  wheat  from  the  chaff,  and  consigning  the  for- 
mer to  the  garner  and  the  latter  to  the  fire,  he  evidently 
teaches  us  that  he  is  the  Judge  of  quick  and  dead,  who 
will  reward  every  one  according  to  his  works,  and  who 
is  able  with  unerring  certainty  to  distinguish  characters, 
and  search  the  heart.  As  if  he  had  said  to  his  hearers, 
You  may  easily  deceive  me  by  false  pretences,  and  by 
professing  a  repentance  which  you  do  not  feel,  may  in- 
duce me  to  baptize  you.  But  you  cannot  thus  deceive 
him  who  comes  after  me.    He  will  discern  with  infinite 


COMPARED  AND  DISTINGUISHED*  6*1 


ease  your  true  characters,  and  will  purify  the  floor  of 
his  church  from  all  the  chaff  which  1  may  ignorantly 
bring.  Think  not  therefore  that  my  baptism  can  avail 
any  thing,  unless  you  are  baptized  by  him  with  the 
Holy  Ghost  as  with  a  purifying  fire.  Such,  my  friends, 
in  brief,  is  the  import  of  the  testimony  boine  by  John 
the  Baptist  in  favor  of  Christ ;  and  we  know  that  this 
testimony  is  true,  because  he  was  raised  up,  commission- 
ed and  inspired  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  on  purpose  that  he 
might  bear  testimony.  To  this  testimony  1  have  drawn 
your  attention  principally  for  the  sake  of  many  import- 
ant reflections  which  it  suggests,  some  of  which  it  is  now 
proposed  to  consider. 

I.  From  this  subject  we  may  learn  who  are,  and 
who  are  not  the  real  preacheis  of  the  gospel,  the  true 
ministers  of  Jesus  Christ.  You  need  not  be  told  that 
among  those  who  claim  this  title  great  differences  pre- 
vail. Some  preach  one  thing,  and  some  another ;  some 
point  out  one  way  to  heaven,  and  some  another  ;  and  it 
is  of  infinite  importance,  of  no  less  importance  than 
your  everlasting  happiness,  that  you  should  be  able  to 
ascertain  who  are  right ;  who  are  the  true  guides  whom 
God  hath  appointed  to  conduct  you  to  heaven.  By  at- 
tending carefully  to  the  conduct  and  character  of  John 
the  Baptist,  you  may  learn  how  to  do  this.  We  know 
that  he  was  divinely  commissioned  and  taught ;  for  we 
are  told  that  he  was  a  man  sent  from  God  ;  that  he  was 
a  prophet  and  more  than  a  prophet.  We  may  therefore 
conclude  that  all,  who  are  sent  of  God  to  preach  the 
gospel,  will  resemble  John  in  their  preaching,  their  tem- 
per, and  conduct.  In  the  first  place,  they  will  resemble 
him  in  their  preaching.  And  what  did  he  preach  ?  I 
answer,  he  preached  repentance  toward  God.  I,  indeed, 
says  he,  baptize  you  with  water  unto  repentance.  In 
those  days,  says  the  evangelist,  came  John  Baptist 
preaching  and  saying,  repent,  for  the  kingdom  of  heaven 
is  at  hand.  This  he  preached  to  all  classes  and  char- 
acters alike.  He  also  taught  his  hearers  to  manifest 
their  repentance  by  a  corresponding  life:  Bring  forth 
C 


62 


CHRIST  AND  HIS  HARBINGER 


therefore  fruits  meet  for  repentance  ;  for  the  ax  is  laid 
to  the  root  of  the  trees  ;  every  tree  that  bringeth  not 
forth  good  fruit  is  hewn  down  and  cast  into  the  fire. 
But  while  he  inculcated  repentance,  he  taught  his  hear- 
ers not  to  trust  to  their  penitence,  nor  to  baptism,  nor 
to  any  outward  privileges  for  salvation,  but  to  Christ 
alone.  To  exalt  Christ  and  turn  the  attention  of  sin- 
ners to  him,  seems  to  have  been  the  great  object  which 
he  always  kept  in  view.  Especially  was  he  careful  to 
teach  his  disciples  that  he  could  not  himself  save  them. 
All  who  came  to  him  he  sent  to  Christ.  He  seems  to 
have  considered  himself  only  as  a  waymark,  whose 
business  it  was  to  stand  with  extended  finger  and  point 
to  the  Saviour,  crying,  Behold  the  Lamb  of  God,  who 
taketh  away  the  sin  of  the  world.  He  told  the  people 
that  they  should  believe  on  him  who  should  come  after 
him,  that  is,  on  Christ  Jesus.  In  all  his  preaching  still 
he  held  up  Christ  to  view  as  all  in  all,  and  like  St.  Paul 
testified  to  all  his  hearers  of  every  description,  repent- 
ance toward  God  and  faith  in  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 
Tha-t  they  might  know  how  repentance  and  faith  were 
to  be  obtained,  he  taught  them  the  necessity  of  divine 
influence,  of  being  baptized  with  the  Holy  Ghost  as  a 
purifying  fire  ;  and  informed  them,  that  Christ  alone 
could  baptize  them  in  this  manner ;  that  without  this 
they  would  be  no  better  than  chaff,  and  as  such  would 
be  burnt  up  with  unquenchable  fire.  Thus  he  made 
Christ  the  whole  subject  matter  of  his  preaching,  and 
represented  him  as  the  beginning  and  ending,  the  au- 
thor and  the  finisher  of  our  faith.  Thus  then  will  all 
preach  who,  like  John,  are  sent  of  God.  They  will  de- 
termine to  know  and  to  make  known  nothing  but  Jesus 
Christ  and  him  crucified,  and  will  teach  all  men  to 
honor  the  Son  even  as  they  honor  the  Father.  They 
will  not  seek  their  own  glory  but  the  glory  of  Christ. 
They  will  strive  to  draw  disciples  not  to  themselves  but 
to  him,  and  will  feel  no  apprehension  of  exalting  or 
teaching  others  to  exalt  him  too  highly.  Nor  will  they 
fail  to  insist  much  on  the  necessity  of  divine  influences, 


*     COMPARED  AND  DISTINGUISHED.  63 


of  being  baptized  with  the  Holy  Ghost,  saying  with  oui' 
Saviour,  Except  a  man  be  born  of  water  and  of  the 
Spirit  he  cannot  see  the  kingdom  of  God.  In  the  sec- 
ond place,  all  true  ministers  of  the  gospel  will  imitate 
John  in  their  temper  and  conduct;  especially  in  his  hu- 
mility. Highly  honored  and  distinguished  as  he  was, 
you  see  how  meanly  he  speaks  of  himself  in  compari- 
son with  Christ.  He  felt  his  need,  as  a  sinner,  of  being 
baptized  with  his  baptism.  He  felt  unworthy  to  stoop 
down  and  loose  the  latchet  of  his  shoes,  a  plain  intima- 
tion of  his  readiness  to  cast  himself  and  all  that  he  pos- 
sessed at  his  Saviour's  feet.  Similar  will  be  the  temper 
of  all  who  truly  preach  the  gospel.  They  will  learn  of 
their  Master  to  be  meek  and  lowly  in  heart ;  and  though, 
in  consequence  of  his  removal  from  this  world,  they 
cannot  perform  menial  services  for  himself  in  person, 
yet  they  will  be  ready,  in  imitation  of  him  who  washed 
his  disciples  feet,  to  perform  the  meanest  and  most  labo- 
rious offices  of  kindness  for  the  lowest  of  his  followers. 
Such,  my  friends,  will  be  the  mode  of  preaching,  such 
the  temper  and  conduct  of  the  true  ministers  of  Christ. 
When  you  find  such  you  may  safely  follow  them,  for  they 
are  followers  of  John,  of  the  apostles,  and  of  Christ ;  and 
those  who  refuse  to  follow  such  guides  would  have  re- 
fused to  follow  Christ  and  his  apostles,  had  they  lived  in 
their  day. 

2.  From  this  subject  you  may  learn,  not  the  charac- 
ters of  Christ's  ministers  only,  but  your  own.  That  you 
may  learn  this,  permit  me  to  ask,  what  think  ye  of 
Christ  ?  and  what  are  your  feelings  toward  him  ?  What 
John  thought  and  felt  respecting  him,  you  have  already 
heard  ;  and  that  his  thoughts  and  feelings  respecting 
him  were  such  as  they  ought  to  be,  we  cannot  doubt, 
since  he  was  filled  with  the  Holy  Ghost  even  from  his 
birth.  Say  then,  my  hearers,  do  your  thoughts  and  feel- 
ings, on  this  subject,  resemble  his  ?  That  you  are  in 
any  respect,  unless  it  be  in  religious  privileges,  superior 
to  the  harbinger  of  Christ,  you  surely  will  not  pretend. 
If  then  John  felt  unworthy  to  perform  the  meanest  offices 
for  Christ ;  if  he  thought,  that  to  stoop  down  and  loosen 


64 


CHRIST  AND  HIS  HARBINGER 


| 


the  Saviour's  shoe-latchet,  when  he  appeared  in  the  form 
of  a  servant,  was  an  honor  which  he  did  not  deserve ; 
much  more  may  we  think  and  feel  the  same,  now  he  is 
exalted  to  heaven  in  the  form  of  God.    Do  you,  then, 
think  and  feel  thus?    That  some  of  you  do  so,  I  doubt 
not.    You  love,  like  Mary,  to  sit  at  Christ's  feet  and 
hear  his  word  ;  or  like  the  woman,  who  had  been  a  sin- 
ner, to  lie  at  his  feet  and  wash  them  with  the  tears  of 
unfeigned  repentance,  and  feel  unworthy  even  of  this 
privilege.    You  feel  that  much  has  been  forgiven  you, 
and  therefore  you  love  much.     Happy  souls !  you 
have  chosen  the  good  part,  and  it  shall  not  be  taken 
from  you.    But  are  there  not  many  present,  who  do  not 
feel  thus  ?    Your  conduct,  my  hearers,  compels  us  to 
fear  that  this  is  the  case  ?    It  proves  that  you  are 
ashamed  of  Christ  and  of  his  words,  ashamed  to  confess 
him  before  men.  Many  of  you  would,  I  fear,  be  asham- 
ed to  have  your  acquaintance  suspect  that  you  worship 
him  in  your  closets  ;  and  many  are  evidently  afraid  or 
ashamed  to  worship  him  in  your  families.    13ut  why  is 
this?    You  are  sufficiently  fond  of  what  you  consider  as 
honorable.    If  then,  you  felt  as  did  the  Baptist,  if  you 
thought  it  would  be  an  unmerited  honor  to  perform  the 
most  servile  offices  for  Christ,  you  would  certainly  feel 
it  a  much  greater  honor  to  be  allowed  to  address  him  in 
prayer,  to  be  enrolled  among  his  followers  and  friends, 
and  to  commune  with  him  at  his  table.    God  forbid, 
you  would  exclaim,  that  I  should  glory,  save  in  the  cross 
of  my  Lord  Jesus  Christ.    But  since  you  disclaim  this 
cause  of  glorying,  since  you  refuse  to  accept  the  honors 
which  Christ  offers,  we  must  conclude  that  your  views 
and  feelings  respecting  the  Saviour  are  dissimilar  to 
those  of  John  the  B  iptist,  or  in  other  words,  that  they 
are  entirely  wrong. 

3.  Did  Christ  come  to  baptize  with  the  Holy  Ghost 
and  with  fire?  Then  surely,  my  friends,  it  becomes 
you  all  to  inquire  whether  you  have  ever  been  baptized 
by  him  in  this  manner.  The  importance  of  this  inquiry 
will  fully  appear,  if  you  consider  our  Saviour's  words  to 


COMPARED  AND  DISTINGUISHED.  65 

St.  Peter,  If  I  wash  thee  not,  thou  hast  no  part  with  me  | 
i.  e.  if  thou  art  not  baptized  with  my  baptism,  the  baptism 
of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  sprinkled  with  the  blood  of 
sprinkling,  which  cleanses  from  all  sin,  thou  hast  no  share 
in  the  blessings  which  I  bestow.  Say  then,  my  friends,, 
has  the  Saviour  baptized  you  in  this  manner  ?  Have 
the  influences  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  like  a  penetrating,  pu- 
rifying fire,  melted  your  once  stony  hearts,  purified  them 
from  the  dross  of  sin,  caused  them  to  glow  with  love  to 
God  and  man,  and  prepared  them  to  receive  the  impress 
of  your  Saviour's  image  ?  Has  the  Spirit  of  truth  taught 
you  to  know  the  truth  ?  Has  the  Spirit  of  adoption 
taught  you  to  cry,  Abba  Father,  with  the  feelings  of  a 
child  ?  Has  the  Spirit  of  grace  and  supplication,  who, 
we  are  told,  helps  the  infirmities  of  Christ's  people  in 
prayer,  taught  you  to  pray  ?  Are  you  led  by  the  Spirit 
of  God  as,  we  are  told,  all  the  children  of  God  are  ? 
Do  you  find  in  yourselves  those  dispositions  which  com- 
pose the  fruits  of  the  Spirit,  such  as  love,  joy,  peace, 
long  suffering,  meekness,  goodness,  faith,  and  temper- 
ance ?  If  so,  you  have  indeed  been  baptized  with  the 
Holy  Ghost  as  with  fire.  Christ  has  washed  you,  and 
you  have  a  share  in  all  his  blessings.  But  if  not,  you 
have  no  part  nor  lot  in  the  matter.  You  have  not  the 
Spirit  of  Christ,  and  therefore,  as  the  apostle  asserts,  you 
are  none  of  his.  You  have  received  the  grace  of  God 
in  vain,  and  Christ  has  profited  you  nothing.  Whether 
in  the  church  of  Christ  or  not,  you  are  no  better  than 
chaff ;  and  as  such  you  will,  unless  speedy  repentance 
and  faith  prevent,  be  burnt  up  with  unquenchable  fire. 

4.  From  this  subject,  my  Christian  friends,  we  may 
learn  how  to  estimate  the  favors  which  we  receive  from 
our  Saviour's  condescending  love.  John,  than  whom  a 
greater  was  never  born  of  woman,  thought  it  would  be 
too  great  an  honor  for  him  to  perform  the  most  menial 
service  for  Christ.  What  then  ought  we  to  think  of 
being  admitted  to  his  church  and  table  ;  of  being  called, 
not  his  servants,  but  his  friends  ;  of  enjoying  communion 
with  him  as  members  of  his  body,  and  of  sharing  as  fel- 
6* 


66  CHRIST  AND  HIS  HARBINGER,  &C. 


low  heirs  with  him  in  the  heavenly  inheritance  ?  My 
friends,  did  we  realize,  like  John,  the  infinite  dignity  of 
him  who  confers  on  us  these  favors,  we  should  be  con- 
tinually in  a  transport  of  gratitude  and  praise  ;  and  the 
love  of  Christ  would  constrain  us,  as  it  did  the  apostle, 
to  live  not  unto  ourselves,  but  unto  him  who  died  for  us. 

To  conclude,  is  Christ's  fan  in  his  hand,  is  he  deter- 
mined thoroughly  to  purge  his  floor,  and  to  burn  up  the 
chaff  with  unquenchable  fire  ?  Alas !  then,  for  those 
who  are  at  ease  in  Zion  ;  for  those  false  professors  who 
are  empty,  and  light,  and  worthless  as  chaff.  It  is  true 
that  for  a  time,  the  chaff  is  of  use.  It  serves  to  shelter, 
protect,  and  ripen  the  grain,  while  it  remains  in  the  field. 
But  a  separating  time  must  come  ;  the  chaff  is  not  for  the 
garner,  where  it  would  be  worse  than  useless.  So  wick- 
ed men  and  false  professors  may,  for  a  time,  be  useful 
to  the  church  in  various  ways,  while  it  remains  in  the  1 
field  of  this  world.  But  in  heaven  they  will  be  of  no  use. 
To  heaven,  therefore,  they  shall  never  come.  Their 
doom,  their  portion  is  unquenchable  fire.  My  friends, 
I  cannot  without  trembling  think  of  the  day,  when  this 
separation  is  to  take  place,  when  this  church  and  congre- 
gation will  be  visited  with  their  final  reward.  I  tremble 
to  think  how  many  of  you  I  shall  miss  in  heaven,  should 
1  ever  arrive  there.  How  many  whom  I  have  heard 
singing  the  songs  of  Zion  in  this  house,  I  shall  never 
hear  there  ;  bow  many  with  whom  I  have  here  sat  down 
at  Christ's  table,  I  shall  look  for  in  vain  at  his  table 
above.  Then  not  one  hypocrite,  not  one  particle  of  chaff 
will  be  left  in  this  church,  or  in  that  part  of  this  assembly 
which  will  be  blessed  with  a  place  at  God's  right  hand. 
This  numerous  assembly  now  resembles  a  fair  and  flour- 
ishing field  ;  but  when  death  cuts  us  down,  when  the 
wheat  and  chaff  are  separated,  when  the  last  tempest 
arises  to  drive  the  latter  into  the  fire,  how  much  will  your 
numbers  be  diminished,  how  many  of  my  flock  shall  I 
lose  forever ! 


SERMON  V. 

Man  in  his  original,  and  in  his  lapsed  State. 
ECCLESIASTES,  VII.  29. 

LO,  THIS  ONLY  HAVE  1  FOUND,  THAT    GOD  HATH    MADE    MAN  UP- 
RIGHT J  BUT  THE?  HAVE  SOUGHT  OCT  MANY  INVENTIONS. 

I  need  not  inform  those  of  you  who  are  acquainted 
with  the  contents  of  Scripture,  that  in  this  book  Solo- 
mon has  recorded  the  result  of  numerous  trials  and  ex- 
periments which  he  had  made  in  searching  after  happi- 
ness and  inquiring  after  truth.  His  success  in  these 
pursuits  does  not  appear  to  have  been  very  flattering. 
After  making  a  fair  trial,  whether  any  or  all  worldly  ob- 
jects could  afford  happiness,  he  found  nothing  but  vani- 
ty and  vexation  of  spirit.  Nor  could  he  boast  of  much 
greater  success  in  his  inquiries  after  truth  ;  I  said  I  will 
be  wise,  but  it  was  far  from  me.  I  applied  my  heart  to 
know,  and  to  search,  and  to  seek  out  wisdom  and  the 
reason  of  things,  and  to  know  the  wickedness  of  folly, 
even  of  foolishness  and  madness.  But,  here  again,  he 
found  himself  entangled  and  perplexed  by  innumerable 
questions  which  he  could  not  answer,  and  difficulties 
which  he  could  not  solve  ;  so  that  at  last  he  was  obliged 
to  sit  down  content  with  the  discovery  of  one  truth  \  a 
truth  however,  of  great  importance  ;  a  truth  indeed, 
which,  if  rightly  understood,  will  go  far  to  elucidate  most 
of  the  religious  questions  by  which  men  are  perplexed, 
and  respecting  which  they  are  divided  in  opinion  ;— 
Lo,  this  only  have  I  found,  that  God  made  man  up- 
right ;  but  they  have  sought  out  many  inventions. 


68 


MAN  IN  HIS  ORIGINAL, 


This  passage,  which  contains  the  result  of  the  wise 
man's  inquiries,  and  the  sum  of  his  discoveries,  includes 
two  propositions : 

I.  God  made  man  upright. 

II.  Men  have  sought  out  many  inventions. 

To  illustrate  and  establish  these  two  propositions,  is 
my  present  design. 

I.  God  made  man  upright.  This  assertion  evidently 
refers  to  the  nature  of  man  as  he  was  originally  created. 
In  other  words,  it  refers  to  our  first  parents,  the  progen- 
itors of  mankind  ;  for  we  are  informed  in  the  account 
given  us  of  the  creation,  that  God  created  man  in  his 
own  image,  after  his  own  likeness ;  and  that,  after  the 
work  of  creation  was  finished,  God  saw  that  all  was  very 
good.  Man  then,  at  his  creation,  was  not  only  good, 
but  very  good,  perfectly  good.  He  was,  as  one  observes, 
a  miniature  picture  of  his  Maker ;  for  he  was  made  in 
the  image,  and  after  the  likeness  of  the  holy  God. 
These  passages  evidently  teach  the  same  truth  which 
is  contained  in  our  text,  that  mankind,  or  human  nature 
was  originally  made  upright. 

Let  us  consider  more  particularly  the  import  of  this 
term.  The  words,  upright  and  righteous,  literally  signi- 
fy agreeable,  or  conformable  to  rule.  Our  text  then 
teaches  us  that  man  was  made  in  a  state  of  perfect  con- 
formity to  some  rule.  If  it  is  asked,  what  rule?  I  an- 
swer, the  law  of  God,  for  this  is  the  only  perfect,  im- 
mutable, and  eternal  rule  to  which  God  requires  his 
creatures  to  be  conformed,  and  in  conformity  to  which 
rectitude  or  uprightness  consists.  I  say  that  this  is  a 
perfect,  eternal,  and  immutable  rule  ;  for  we  are  assured 
that  the  law  of  God  is  perfect ;  that  it  is  holy,  just,  and 
good  ;  and  that  though  heaven  and  earth  pass  away,  one 
jot  or  one  tittle  shall  in  no  wise  pass  from  it,  till  all  be 
fulfilled.  Man  then  was  created  in  a  state  of  perfect 
conformity  to  the  law  of  God.  If  it  be  asked  in  what 
this  state  of  conformity  cpnsists,  or  what  it  implies  ;  I 
answer, — it  implies  the  possession  of  an  understanding 
perfectly  acquainted  with  the  law  ;  of  a  memory  which 


AND  IN  HIS  LAPSED  STATE 


69 


perfectly  retains  all  its  precepts  ;  of  a  conscience  which 
always  faithfully  applies  it ;  of  a  heart  which  perfectly 
loves  it;  and  a  will  perfectly  obedient  and  submissive  to 
its  authority;  and  of  an  imagination  which  presents  to 
the  mind  no  images,  but  such  as  ought  to  be  entertained. 
If  either  of  these  be  wanting,  man  cannot  be  perfectly 
upright,  or,  in  other  words,  perfectly  conformed  to  the 
divine  law.  This  assertion  it  will  be  necessary  to  illus- 
trate and  prove  more  particularly. 

1.  A  state  of  perfect  conformity  to  the  divine  law 
implies  the  possession  of  an  understanding  perfectly  ac- 
quainted with  that  law.  This,  I  conceive,  is  too  evident 
to  be  denied ;  since  no  being  can  act  in  conformity  to  a 
law,  or  regulate  his  conduct  by  a  law,  with  which  he  is 
not  acquainted.  Man  then,  at  his  creation,  was  endu- 
ed with  such  an  understanding.  In  the  language  of 
Scripture,  the  divine  law  was  put  in  his  mind.  He  was 
not,  like  St.  Paul,  alive  without  the  law,  but  alive  with 
the  law.  He  was  perfectly  acquainted  both  with  the 
letter  and  the  spirit  of  it ;  and  saw  with  the  greatest 
clearness  its  nature,  spirituality,  strictness,  and  extent ; 
so  that  the  path  of  duty  lay,  in  all  cases,  as  plainly  before 
the  eye  of  his  mind,  as  the  path  from  this  house  to  our 
habitations  ever  lay  before  our  bodily  eyes.  In  a  word, 
he  so  perfectly  understood  what  was  required  of  him, 
and  had  such  a  perfect  knowledge  of  truth  and  false- 
hood, of  right  and  wrong,  that  it  was  impossible  for  him, 
while  he  remained  in  his  original  state,  ever  to  trans- 
gress ignorantly,  or  by  mistake.  Agreeably,  we  find 
knowledge  expressly  mentioned  by  the  inspired  writers 
as  one  thing  in  which  the  image  of  God,  that  image  in 
which  man  was  created,  consists. 

2.  In  the  next  place,  a  state  of  perfect  uprightness, 
or  conformity  to  the  divine  law,  implies  a  memory  which 
faithfully  retains  all  its  precepts.  The  necessity  of  such 
a  memory  is  obvious.  We  cannot  regulate  our  conduct 
by  a  law  not  remembered,  any  more  than  by  a  law 
which  does  not  exist.  Just  so  far  as  any  of  its  precepts 
are  forgotten,  they  must  cease  to  affect  us.    Memory  if 


70 


MAN  IN  HIS  ORIGINAL, 


the  storehouse  of  the  mind,  in  which  all  its  treasures  are 
laid  up ;  and  when  any  th*ig  fade&  out  of  the  memory, 
it  no  longer  exists  in  the  mind.  Man  then,  was  origin- 
ally created  with  a  memory,  which  faithfully  retained 
every  jot  and  tittle  of  the  divine  law, as  wax  retains  the  im- 
pression of  a  seal ;  so  that  every  precept  was  ready  at 
hand  to  direct  his  conduct,  on  all  occasions,  and  in  all  cir- 
cumstances. Of  course,  while  he  remained  as  God 
created  him,  it  was  impossible  that  he  should  ever  trans- 
gress the  law  through  forgetfulness. 

3.  In  the  third  place,  a  state  of  perfect  conformity  to 
the  divine  law  implies  a  conscience  which  always  faith- 
fully applies  it.  As  we  have  of  late  repeatedly  remind- 
ed you,  the  office  of  conscience  is  to  apply  to  our  con- 
duct the  rule  which  is  given  it ;  and  to  pass  sentence 
upon  us  according  to  that  rule.  The  rule  given  to  man  at 
his  creation,  was  the  divine  law,  and  as  he  perfectly  un- 
derstood and  remembered  this  law,  his  conscience  was 
ever  guided  by  an  infallible  rule ;  and  this  rule  it  was 
always  ready  to  apply.  Memory  gave  her  the  words, 
in  which  the  rule  was  expressed  ;  and  understanding 
gave  the  exact  meaning  of  those  words,  so  that  she 
could  never  pronounce  an  erroneous  sentence,  never 
lead  man  to  think,  as  St.  Paul  afterwards  did  before  his 
conversion,  that  he  was  verily  doing  God  service  when 
in  reality  he  was  violating  his  commands.  Nor  did 
conscience  ever  slumber  or  lose  any  portion  of  her  quick 
sensibility  to  right  and  wrong,  but  was  ever  awake, 
susceptible,  and  active  ;  so  that  man  always  found  her 
saying,  as  a  voice  within  him,  This  is  the  way, 
walk  thou  in  it.  And  as  man,  while  he  retained  his 
original  character,  always  perfectly  complied  with  her 
admonitions,  conscience,  of  course,  always  approved  his 
conduct.  Their  constant  language  was,  Well  done,  good 
and  faithful  servant ;  and  as  her  voice  was  the  voice  of 
God,  so  her  approving  sentence  was  sanctioned  by  the 
power  of  God,  and  spoke  peace  to  the  soul  with  all  his 
authority  and  energy.  Man,  therefore,  then  possessed 
in  a  perfect  degree  peace  of  conscience.    He  had,  in 


AND  IN  HIS  LAPSED  STATE, 


71 


the  fullest  sense  of  the  words,  a  conscience  void  of  of- 
fence ;  a  conscience  which  was  never  offended,  and 
which  did  not  offend. 

4.  In  the  fourth  place,  a  state  of  perfect  conformity 
to  the  divine  law  implies  a  heart  which  perfectly  loves 
that  law.  This  is  even  more  necessary  than  any  thing 
which  has  yet  been  mentioned.  Indeed,  it  is  absolutely 
indispensable  :  for  though  the  understanding  were  per- 
fectly acquainted  with  the  law ;  though  the  memory 
perfectly  retained,  and  conscience  ever  faithfully  applied 
it  ;  yet  if  the  heart  did  not  love  its  precepts,  and  love  to 
obey  them,  they  would  not  be  obeyed  ;  for  the  heart, 
or  in  other  words,  the  affections  and  inclinations,  is  the 
ruling  faculty  of  the  soul,  and  will  sooner  or  later  sub- 
due and  lead  captive  all  the  other  faculties.  Besides, 
as  the  law  is  fulfilled  by  love,  as  it  principally  requires 
love,  it  is  evident  that  where  there  is  no  love,  there  can 
be  no  real  obedience  to  any  of  its  requirements.  Man 
then,  was  created  with  a  heart,  which  perfectly  loved  the 
divine  law,  and  which  was  perfectly  inclined  to  obey. 
His  inclinations  perfectly  coincided  with  his  duty.  He 
not  only  walked  in  the  path  of  duty,  but  loved  to  walk  in 
it,  and  proposed  it  to  others.  That  he  was  so,  is  farther 
evident  from  the  fact,  that  he  was  created  in  the  image 
of  God,  for  God  is  love,  holy  love  ;  and  therefore  an 
essential  part  of  his  image,  in  which  man  was  created, 
must  consist  in  love.  God  also  loves  his  own  law  ;  for 
it  is  a  transcript  of  his  mind,  an  expression  of  his  will ; 
and,  of  course,  since  man  was  made  in  the  likeness  of 
God,  he  must  have  loved  his  law.  In  a  word,  the  divine 
law  was  written  in  his  heart  by  the  finger  of  God,  as  it 
afterwards  was  upon  the  tables  of  stone  ;  so  that,  while 
man  retained  the  character  which  God  gave  him,  he 
could  never  transgress  the  law  by  choice  or  design. 

5.  In  the  fifth  place,  a  state  of  perfect  conformity  to 
the  law  of  God,  implies  a  will  perfectly  obedient  and 
submissive  to  that  law  ;  or,  in  other  words,  to  the  divine 
government  and  authority.  This,  I  conceive,  is  too  evi- 
dent to  require  proof ;  for  a  rebellious,  stubborn  will,  is 


72 


MAN  IN  HIS  ORIGINAL) 


utterly  incompatible  with  conformity  to  the  law  of  God. 
A  perfectly  obedient  and  submissive  will,  then,  man  ori- 
ginally possessed.  His  will  was  swallowed  up  in  the 
will  of  God,  following  just  as  the  shadow  follows  the 
body.  This  resulted  as  a  necessary  consequence  from 
the  holy  love  to  God's  law  which  reigned  in  his  heart  ; 
for  the  will  is  the  servant  of  the  heart,  and  follows  where 
the  heart  leads.  The  understanding,  which  is  the  eye 
of  the  mind,  discovers  objects  with  the  consequences  of 
pursuing  or  avoiding  them  ;  the  heart  chooses  or  refuses 
those  objects ;  and  then  the  will  resolves  either  to  pursue 
or  avoid  them,  according  to  the  inclination  of  the  heart. 
So  long  then,  as  man's  understanding  was  perfectly  clear, 
and  his  heart  perfectly  right,  his  will  could  not  but  be 
perfectly  obedient  and  submissive  to  the  law  of  God. 

6.  There  still  remains  one  faculty  possessed  by  man, 
which  it  is  necessary  to  consider,  viz.  that  which  is  usu- 
ually  called  the  imagination.  Whether  this  faculty  is 
possessed  by  spirits  in  a  disembodied  state,  may  be 
doubted.  It  seems  probable  that  it  belongs  exclusively 
neither  to  the  soul  nor  to  the  body,  but  that  it  results  from 
the  union  of  both.  It  is  that  faculty  by  which  the  images 
or  ideas  of  absent  sensible  objects  are  presented  to  the 
mind.  1  say  the  images  of  sensible  objects  ;  for  intel- 
lectual objects,  such  as  truth,  for  instance,  are  perceived 
by  the  understanding ;  and: I  say  of  absent  sensible  ob- 
jects, for  when  such  objects  are  present  with  us,  they  are 
perceived  by  our  senses.  Now  it  may  be  made  to  ap- 
pear evident,  that  such  a  faculty  was  necessary  for  man  in 
his  present  situation.  He  is  an  inhabitant  of  one  world, 
destined  after  a  short  residence  here,  to  be  removed  to 
another.  Now  the  world  to  which  he  must  remove,  dif- 
fers so  widely  from  this,  that  in  consequence  of  the  im- 
perfection ot  language  many  of  its  objects  cannot  be  de- 
scribed or  presented  to  our  minds,  except  by  the  assist- 
ance of  figures  and  comparisons  drawn  from  the  sensi- 
ble objects  around  us.  It  was  therefore  necessary  that  we 
should  be  endued  with  a  faculty  of  perceiving  these 
figures  and  comparisons,  and  of  forming  by  their  assist- 


AND  IN  HIS  LAPSED  STATE » 


73 


ance  some  images  or  conceptions  of  heavenly  and  eternal 
objects.  It  was  doubtless  for  this  reason  that  God  gave  us 
the  faculty  which  we  call  imagination  ;  and  when  man  left 
the  forming  hand  of  his  Maker,  this  faculty,  like  the  oth- 
ers which  we  have  mentioned,  was  entirely  free  from 
moral  imperfection.  Instead  of  filling  the  mind,  as 
it  now  does,  with  vain  thoughts,  waking  dreams,  and 
worthless  or  sinful  fancies,  it  presented  nothing  but  holy 
images  of  spiritual  and  heavenly  objects.  In  every  object 
which  met  man's  senses,  his  pure  imagination  enabled 
him  to  discover  some  striking  illustration  of  important 
truths,  some  analogical  resemblance  to  those  things  that 
eye  hath  not  seen,  nor  ear  heard,  which  God  has  prepar- 
ed for  them  that  love  him.  A  striking  instance  of  the 
manner  in  which  a  holy  imagination  operates,  we  have 
in  the  life  of  our  Saviour.  To  him  the  whole  world  was 
a  Bible,  and  every  object  a  text,  from  which  he  drew 
the  most  convincing  arguments,  the  most  instructive  les- 
sons, the  most  striking  illustration  of  divine  truth.  Such 
was  the  imagination  of  man,  and  such  its  employment, 
while  he  retained  his  original  character. 

Thus  have  I  separately  considered  the  several  facul- 
ties of  the  human  soul,  and  attempted  to  show  that  they 
were  all  made  at  first  upright,  or  in  a  state  of  perfect 
conformity  to  the  divine  law.    And  a  little  reflection 
will  convince  us  that,  if  either  of  these  faculties  had  been 
imperfect,  man  could  not  have  been  made  upright,  or 
created  in  the  image  and  after  the  likeness  of  God.  If 
he  had  not  clearly  understood  the  law,  or  had  not  per- 
fectly remembered  it,  or  faithfully  applied  it,  or  cordial- 
ly loved  it,  or  willingly  obeyed  it,  or  if  his  imagination 
had  presented  vain,  impure,  or  sinful  images  to  the  mind  ; 
— in  either  of  these  cases,  he  would  have  been  imper- 
fect, or  not  upright,  and  God  would  have  been  charge- 
able with  the  imperfeccion  ;  nor  could  it  have  been  said 
with  truth,  that  all  his  works  were  very  good.    It  may 
perhaps  be  expected  that  I  should  now  proceed  to  say 
something  of  the  human  body,  with  its  appetites  and 
propensities  ;  but  this  is  needless.    The  body  is  only 
7 


MAN  IN  HIS  ORIGINAL) 


the  habitation  of  the  soul,  and  its  members  only  the  in- 
struments by  which  the  soul  acts  on  surrounding  sensible 
objects.  In  itself,  without  the  soul,  it  is  nothing  but  a 
little  mass  of  organized  dust,  incapable  of  doing  either 
good  or  evil.  It  is  the  soul,  the  inhabitant  within,  which 
gives  a  character  to  its  motions  ;  and  if  the  soul  be  per- 
fectly holy,  its  habitation  must  be  perfectly  pure.  It 
may,  however,  be  proper  to  remark,  that  the  appetites 
of  the  body  were  originally,  not  as  they  now  are,  disor- 
derly, craving,  and  excessive  in  their  desires,  but  were 
perfectly  under  the  guidance  and  control  of  the  mind 
and  desired  nothing  more  than  the  divine  law  allowed, 
and  the  welfare  of  man  required.  Such  then  was  man 
at  his  creation,  sanctified  throughout  in  spirit,  soul,  and 
body,  perfect  in  that  image  of  God  which  consists  in 
knowledge,  righteousness,  and  true  holiness.  But, 

II.    Though  God  made  man  thus  upright,  they  have 
sought  out  many  inventions.    The  disjunctive  particle, 
with  which  the  latter  clause  of  our  text  is  introduced, 
intimates  that  the  royal  preacher  liere  means  sinful  in- 
ventions, or  inventions  contrary  to  that  uprightness,  that 
state  of  conformity  to  the  divine  law,  in  which  man  was 
created.    That  this  must  have  been  his  meaning,  is  far- 
ther evident  from  many  other  inspired  passages  in  which 
this  truth  is  taught.    Thus  we  are  told,  that  men  have 
all  gone  astray,  like  sheep,  and  turned  every  one  to  his 
own  way  ;  that  when  the  Lord  looked  down  from  heav- 
en on  the  children  of  men,  to  see  if  there  were  any  that 
did  understand  or  seek  after  him,  he  saw  that  they  had 
all  gone  out  of  the  way,  that  they  had  together  become 
filthy,  so  that  there  was  none  righteous  or  upright,  none 
that  did  good,  no  not  one.  .These  expressions  teach  us, 
not  only  that  man  is  now  out  of  the  way  of  righteousness, 
but  that  he  was  originally  in  it ;  for  otherwise  it  could 
not  with  propriety  be  said  that  he  had  turned  or  gone 
out  of  it.    Similar  therefore  must  be  the  meaning  of  the 
wise  man,  when  he  says,  men  have  sought  out  many  in- 
ventions. That  is,  first,  they  have  sought  out  or  invented 
many  new  ways  in  which  to  walk,  forsaking  the  good 


AND  IN  HIS  LAPSED  STATE 


old  way  in  which  God  originally  placed  them*  Of  this 
you  may  be  convinced  by  looking  a  moment  at  the  pre- 
sent and  past  situation  of  mankind,  and  considering  the 
almost  innumerable  foolish,  sinful  ways  in  which  men 
seek  for  happiness,  and  the  various  forms  of  false  religion 
which  have  prevailed,  and  which  still  prevail  inlhe  world. 
While  the  way  of  truth  and  uprightness  is  always  one 
and  the  same,  the  new  and  false  ways  which  men  have 
invented  are  numerous  and  continually  changing. 

In  the  next  place,  men  have  forsaken  the  one  living 
and  true  God,  in  whom  they  live,  and  move,  and  are, 
and  sought  out  or  invented  innumerable  false  gods  and 
created  idols,  to  which  they  give  that  homage  and  atten- 
tion which  are  due  to  him  alone.  To  use  his  own  lan- 
guage, they  have  forsaken  him^  the  Fountain  of  living 
waters,  and  hewn  out  for  themselves  broken  cisterns 
which  can  hold  no  water.  When  they  knew  God,  says 
the  apostle,  they  glorified  him  not  as  God,  neither  were 
thankful,  but  became  vain  in  their  imaginations,  and  their 
foolish  hearts  were  darkened  ;  so  that  they  changed  the 
truth  of  God  into  a  lie  and  worshipped  and  served  the 
creature  more  than  the  Creator,  who  is  blessed  forever. 
Of  similar  conduct  we,  my  friends,  are  in  reality  guilty  ; 
for,  though  we  do  not  bow  down  to  false  gods  of  wood 
and  stone,  we  have  all  set  up  idols  in  our  hearts  ;  we 
all  love  and  serve  the  creature,  more  than  the  Creator ; 
we  all  take  pride  in  some  of  those  things,  the  glory  of 
which  God  has  resolved  to  stain ;  and  are  all  more  or 
less  fascinated  and  bewitched  by  the  innumerable  in- 
ventions of  luxury  and  art  which  men  have  sought  out, 
and  which  the  world  places  before  us  to  draw  off  our 
hearts  from  God. 

In  the  third  place,  men  have  ceased  to  be  conformed 
to  the  divine  law,  and  have  sought  out  many  other  rules, 
rules  more  agreeable  to  their  present  sinful  inclinations, 
by  which  to  regulate  and  try  their  conduct.  How  nu- 
merous and  how  various  are  these  rules,  no  one  who  is 
acquainted  with  mankind  need  be  informed.  Some 
adopt  for  this  purpose  the  laws  of  their  country ;  others 


76 


MAN  IN  HIS  ORIGINAL, 


the  opinion  of  some  human  teacher  ;  while  a  third  and 
more  numerous  class  govern  themselves  by  the  maxims 
which  pass  currently  in  the  society  of  which  they  hap- 
pen to  be  members.  Thus  in  various  ways  men  meas- 
ure themselves  by  themselves,  and  compare  themselves 
among  themselves,  and  therefore  are  not  wise  ;  for  while 
they  follow  these  rules  of  human  invention,  they  have  lost 
all  that  uprightness,  that  conformity  to  the  divine  law, 
which  has  been  described.  For  instance,  their  under- 
standings are  so  blinded  by  sinful  prejudices  and  inclina- 
tions, that  they  have  lost  the  knowledge  of  the  divine  law. 
They  are  all,  like  St.  Paul  before  bis  conversion,  alive 
without  the  law ;  nor  can  they  be  made  by  mere  hu- 
man teaching  to  know  any  thing  of  its  nature,  spirituality 
and  extent.  Agreeably,  we  are  told  that  their  under- 
standings are  darkened,  being  alienated  from  the  life  of 
God,  through  the  ignorance  that  is  in  them  because  of 
the  blindness  of  their  hearts. 

And  as  men  do  not  now  understand,  so  neither  do 
they  remember  the  law  of  God.  They  retain  indeed  with 
care,  many  things  which  they  ought  to  forget ;  but  are 
prone  to  forget  what  they  ought  to  remember.  How 
many  are  there  among  us,  who  have  heard  the  word  of 
God  inculcated  from  their  childhood,  who  pass  whole 
days  without  recollecting  one  of  its  precepts,  or  even 
without  reflecting  that  God  has  given  them  a  law  for 
the  regulation  of  their  conduct.  Hence  men  are  repre- 
sented as  not  liking  to  retain  God  in  their  knowledge 
and  as  saying  to  the  Almighty,  Depart  from  us,  for  we 
desire  not  the  knowledge  of  thy  ways.  Hence  too  the 
wicked  are  described  as  those  who  forget  God',  and 
hence  Paul  exhorts  the  Hebrews  to  give  the  more  earn- 
est heed  to  the  truths  they  had  heard,  lest  at  any  time 
they  should  let  them  slip, — an  exhortation  which  plainly 
intimates  that  we  are  exceedingly  prone  to  suffer  the 
truth  to  slip  out  of  our  minds.  That  we  are  so,  and 
that  our  memories  are  exceedingly  depraved,  every  one 
must  be  convinced,  who  will  reflect  how  much  more 
easily  he  retains  an  idle  tale  or  slanderous  report  than 


AND  IN  HIS  LAPSED  STATE. 


77 


the  truth  of  God's  word ;  and  how  much  sooner  he  for- 
gets the  mercies  he  has  received  from  God,  than  the 
injuries  which  he  receives  from  men.    The  conscience 
also  shares  in  these  malignant  effects  of  sin.    No  longer 
does  she  faithfully  apply  the  law  of  God  to  our  conduct, 
or  pronounce  sentence  according  to  its  rules*  Indeed, 
it  is  impossible  that  she  should ;  for  if  men  neither  un- 
derstand the  nature,  nor  remember  the  precepts  of  the 
divine  law,  how  is  it  possible  that  conscience  should  ap- 
ply it  to  our  conduct.    It  is  a  rule  of  which  she  now 
knows  nothing.  She  judges  according  to  the  rule  which 
is  put  into  her  hands,  and  we  have  already  observed 
that  men  invent  or  seek  out  false  rules  for  her  use.  Be- 
sides, in  consequence  of  sin,  she  has  lost  much  of  her 
sensibility,  and  is  prone  to  slumber,  so  that  nothing 
disturbs  iier  but  crimes  of  the  first  magnitude,  and  noth- 
ing can  awaken  her  but  the  Spirit  of  God.    Hence  St. 
Paul,  speaking  of  unbelievers,,  says,  even  their  mind 
and  conscience  is  defiled  ;  and  of  others  he  says,  that 
their  consciences  are  seared  as  with  an  hot  iron.  Nor 
has  the  heart  of  man  escaped  the  contagion  of  sin.  In- 
deed, this  is  the  first  part  affected  by  it ;  for  while 
man's  heart  loves  the  law,  he  will  always  understand 
remember,  and  apply  it.    It  is  only  because  men  >*ve 
ceased  to  love  God's  law,  that  they  now  misunde^tanc* 
and  forget  it.    It  is  the  sinfulness  of  the  her1'  a  one> 
which  darkens  the  understanding,  renders  ir.  memory 
treacherous,  and  the  conscience  insensib^  an«  unfaith- 
ful.   A  sinful  heart  cannot  endure  W.  understanding 
which  perceives,  a  memory  which  <etams>  a°d  a  C0IJ- 
science  which  applies  the  law  of  **°d}:  f°r.  these  facul- 
ties would  then  be  at  constap'  war  with  the  heart,  op- 
posing and  condemning  a)>  ner  smful  inclinations.  A 
sinful  heart  loves  darkp^s  for  the  same  reascm  Wllh  the 
midnight  thief.    Asfeeabbr>  our  Saviour  informs  us 
that  every  one  fAat  doeth  evil  hateth  the  light  neither 
eometh  to  the  light,  lest  his  deeds  should  be  reproved. 
This  then  is  the  reason  why  men  do  not  like  to  retain 
God  in  their  knowledge.    Set  the  heart  right,  let  it  hot 
7* 


78 


MAN  IN  HIS  ORIGINAL, 


again  reconciled  to  God  and  to  his  law,  and  all  the  oth- 
er faculties  will  be  rectified  at  once.  But  alas,  the 
heart  will  not  be  set  right ;  for  it  has  become  deceitful 
above  all  things,  and  desperately  wicked.  In  this  de- 
pravity of  man's  heart,  the  will  also  shares  of  course. 
It  has  become  rebellious,  like  an  iron  sinew ;  for  the 
carnal  mind  is  enmity  against  God,  and  not  subject  to 
his  law.  Hence  the  language  of  the  unsubdued  will  is, 
I  will  not  have  God  to  reign  over  me  ;  not  his  will,  but 
mine  be  done. 

Would  time  permit,  I  might  proceed  to  shew  how  the 
i  magination  is  depraved  by  the  loss  of  its  original  con- 
formity to  the  divine  law ;  how,  instead  of  raising  the 
mind  from  earth  to  heaven,  it  drags  down  the  mind 
from  heaven  to  earth  ;  fills  it  with  vain  thoughts,  foolish 
fancies,  and  impure  sinful  images,  and  debases  and  de- 
grades every  thing  great  and  good  by  its  mean  groveling 
conceptions  of  them.    I  might  also  show  how  the  infec- 
tion of  sin  has  spread  from  the  soul  to  the  body,  inflaming 
its  appetites,  and  often  reducing  men  by  their  instrumen- 
tality almost  to  a  level  with  the  brutes,  and  sometimes 
below  them.    But  on  this  part  of  my  subject  time  for- 
bids me  to  enlarge.    I  must,  however,  briefly  notice, 
Lastly,  among  the  inventions  of  sinful  man  the  innu- 
mei>tMe  excuses,  pleas,  and  apologies,  which  he  has 
sought ^ut  t0  justify  his  conduct,  and  to  make  himself 
appear  u^ortunate?  rather  than  criminal.    These  excu- 
ses are  far  is  nuraerous  to  particularize ;  and  in  nothing 
have  mankind  ^Spiayed  more  ingenuity  than  in  forming 
them  ;  for  though  t^ev  jiave  jost  the  knowledge  to  do 
good,  they  are  wise  ^  do  evijj  and  to  justify  it  when 
done.    All  these  excus^  however  different,  agree  in 
this :  they  attempt  to  transit  the  guijt  0f  sin  from  man 
to  God-    Indeed  it  is  evident        the  guilt  cannot  be 
removed  from  man  without  casting  ft  un0n  God  ;  for  if 
man  be  not  guilty,  certainly  guilty,  Go^,— if  I  may  ven- 
ture to  utter  it, — is  so.    But  our  subject  overthrows  all 
these  excuses  at  once ;  for  if  God  made  man  upright 
he  cannot  be  justly  blamed  for  the  sins  of  men  5  and  if 


AND  IN  HTS  LAPSED  STATE. 


79 


men  have  sought  out  many  wicked  and  foolish  inventions, 
they  alone  ought  to  bear  the  blame  of  them  and  suffer 
their  consequences. 

Thus,  my  friends,  have  we  taken  a  brief  view  of  what 
man  was,  and  of  what  he  is  ;  of  what  he  was  as  God 
made  him,  and  of  what  he  is  since  he  has,  if  I  may  so 
express  it,  unmade  or  destroyed  himself.    And  now  who 
can  forbear  to  weep  over  such  a  scene  as  this  ;  over  a 
world  thus  dreadfully  marred,  over  a  race  of  immortal 
"beings  once  bearing  the  image  and  likeness  of  God,  per- 
fectly conformed  in  every  faculty  to  his  holy  law,  and 
in  all  respects  but  little  lower  than  the  angels  ;  but  now 
debased,  ruined,  and  enslaved  by  sin,  the  image  of  God 
lost,  his  law  effaced  from  their  minds,  and  themselves 
dead  in  trespasses  and  sins,  transformed  into  children  of 
wrath,  and  heirs  of  endless  perdition.    O,  how  has  the 
gold  become  dim,  and  the  most  fine  gold  changed  ! 
Well  might  such  a  spectacle  make  heaven  weep,  couid 
tears  be  shed  in  heaven.    And  if  it  has  not  done  this  it 
has  done  more.    It  has  brought  down  God's  eternal 
Son  from  heaven  to  earth  on  an  errand  of  mercy,  to 
seek  and  to  save  a  race  thus  ruined  and  lost.  This 
fact  alone,  if  rightly  considered,  taken  in  connection 
with  the  manner  in  which  this  salvation  was  effected,  will 
give  us  more  just  and  enlarged  conceptions  of  the  great- 
ness of  man's  ruin  than  any  thing  which  can  be  said  of 
it  beside.    It  will  show  us  that  the  work  of  saving  was 
incomparably  greater  and  more  difficult  than  that  of  cre- 
ating the  world.  When  the  world  was  created,  its  Maker 
did  not  leave  his  celestial  abode.    A  word,  an  act  of  his 
will,  was  sufficient.    But  when  the  world  was  to  be  sa- 
ved, its  Maker  was  constrained  to  descend  from  heaven, 
the  Creator  to  take  the  form  of  a  creature,  and  a  whole 
life  of  toil  and  suffering  closed  by  a  most  painful  and 
ignominious  death,  was  necessary  to  effect  the  work. 
From  the  greatness  of  the  work  of  salvation,  then,  infer 
the  greatness  of  man's  ruin.    Judge  that  if  one,  if  such 
an  one,  died  for  men,  then  men  were  indeed  dead. 

2.  From  this  subject  we  may  learn  the  nature  and 


80  MAN  IN  HIS  ORIGINAL,  &C. 

necessity  of  that  moral  change  which  the  Scriptures  call 
a  new  birth,  a  new  creation,  arid  a  resurrection  from  the 
dead.  In  other  words,  we  may  learn  the  nature  and  ne- 
cessity of  true  religion.  The  word  religion,  literally  sig- 
nifies to  circle  or  bind  again  what  had  been  broken  or 
separated.  We  have  seen  how  the  bands  which  bound 
men  to  God  were  sundered  by  the  sin  of  the  former. 
True  religion  consists  in  a  reunion  of  these  bands,  in 
bringing  man  back  into  the  state  in  which  he  was 
originally  created,  and  from  which  he  has  fallen.  Now 
in  order  to  this,  is  not  a  great  moral  change  necessary, 
if  our  text  be  true  ?  If  man  was  originally  upright,  or 
perfectly  conformed  to  the  divine  law,  must  he  not  be- 
come again  upright,  before  he  can  be  restored  to  the 
favor  of  God  ?  And  if  all  his  powers  and  faculties  are 
depraved  by  sin,  as  above  described,  must  not  this 
change  be  so  great,  as  to  be  justly  styled  a  new  creation, 
or  a  new  birth  ?  Must  not  the  man  be,  as  it  were,  made 
or  created  anew  ?  That  he  must  so,  the  Scriptures 
most  clearly  assert :  If  any  man  be  in  Christ,  he  is  a 
new  creature.  Ye  are  created  anew  in  Christ  Jesus  unto 
good  works.  Put  off  the  old  man,  which  is  corrupt  accor- 
ding to  the  deceitful  lusts,  and  be  renewed  in  the  spirit  of 
your  minds  ;  and  put'on  the  new  man  which  is  renewed 
in  knowledge,  or  made  anew,  after  the  image  of  God. 
Add  to  these  and  many  other  passages,  our  Saviour's 
declaration,  Except  a  man  be  born  again,  he  cannot  see 
the  kingdom  of  God/ — and  you  must,  I  think,  be  convinr 
ced  that  a  great  moral  change  is  absolutely  necessary  ; 
that  there  can  be  no  true  religion,  no  bringing  a  man  into 
his  former  state,  no  reconciling  him  to  God  without  it. 
You  will,  at  least,  see  that  the  Bible  is  a  complete  whole ; 
that  it  contains  a  connected  and  consistent  scheme  of 
divine  truth.    *■    *  * 

3.  From  this  subject,  my  professing  friends,  you  may 
learn  whether  you  are  what  you  profess  to  be  ;  and  if 
so,  how  far  you  have  advanced  in  your  Christian 
course.    *    *    *  *• 


SERMON  VI. 


Knowledge  of  One's  Sins9  a  difficult  Acquisition. 
PSALM  XIX.  12. 

WHO  CAN  UNDERSTAND  HIS  ERRORS  ? 

From  the  preceding  part  of  this  psalm  it  appears 
that,  when  David  uttered  this  exclamation,  he  had  been 
meditating  on  the  purity  and  perfection  of  the  divine 
law.  From  this  subject  he  passed,  by  a  very  natural 
transition,  to  his  own  transgressions  of  that  law.  The 
more  he  reflected  upon  them  the  more  numerous  and 
aggravated  did  they  appear ;  and  the  more  he  felt  con- 
vinced that  he  was  still  very  far  from  discovering  them 
all.  Hence  he  was  constrained  to  exclaim,  Who  can 
understand  his  errors  ?  Cleanse  thou  me  from  secret 
faults  ;  that  is,  from  those  faults  of  which  I  am  not  sen* 
sible.  which  are  hidden  even  from  myself.  To  under- 
stand our  errors,  is  to  be  acquainted  with  our  faults, 
or,  in  other  words,  with  our  sins ;  to  know  bow  often 
we  transgress  the  divine  law.  By  asking  who  can  do 
this,  the  psalmist  evidently  intimates  that  it  is  exceed* 
ingly  difficult,  and  that  the  knowledge  of  our  sins  is  a 
very  rare  attainment.  That  it  is  so,  every  one,  who 
knows  any  thing  of  the  divine  law,  of  himself,  and  of 
mankind,  will  readily  acknowledge.  Every  such  per- 
son is  sensible  that  he  is  very  far  from  knowing  his  owe 
sinfulness,  in  its  full  extent,  and  feels  the  necessity 
of  beseeching  God  to  pardon  his  secret  faults.  And, 
my  friends,  it  is  exceedingly  important  that  we  should 
all  be  sensible  of  this,  that  we  should  be  duly  aware  how 


82 


KNOWLEDGE  OF  ONE's  SINS 


very  difficult  it  is  for  any  person  to  understand  his  er- 
rors. I  propose,  therefore,  in  discoursing  on  the  pas- 
sage to  shew, 

I.  That  to  acquire  a  knowledge  of  our  own  sinful- 
ness, is  excedingly  difficult  j  and, 

II.  Why  it  is  so. 

1.  To  acquire  a  knowledge  of  our  sinfulness  is  ex- 
ceedingly difficult.  That  it  is  so,  may  be  inferred  from 
the  fact,  that  very  few  acquire  this  knowledge,  and  that 
none  acquire  it  perfectly.  It  may  reasonably  be  pre- 
sumed that  any  thing,  which  all  men  are  concerned  to 
obtain,  and  which  very  few  do  obtain,  must  be  of  diffi- 
cult acquisition.  Now  it  is  obvious  that  all  men  are 
concerned  to  obtain  a  knowledge  of  their  errors,  their 
sins.  Scarcely  a  person  can  be  found,  who  does  not 
profess  to  wish  for  this  knowledge.  But  it  is  equally 
obvious,  that  very  few  obtain  it  in  any  considerable  de- 
gree, and  that  none  obtain  it  perfectly.  So  obvious  is 
this,  that  the  blindness  of  men  to  their  own  faults  has 
been  the  constant  theme  of  satirical  and  moral  writers, 
from  the  earliest  ages,  whose  writings  have  come  down 
to  us.  Indeed,  it  is  one  of  the  first  traits  in  the  human 
character,  of  which  young  persons  take  notice  when 
they  begin  to  mix  with  the  world  ;  so  that  he  must  be 
very  young,  and  very  unobserving,  who  has  not  learned 
that  his  neighbors  and  acquaintances  are  ignorant  of  their 
own  feelings.  Even  children,  at  a  very  early  age,  will 
often  discover  faults  in  their  parents  or  instructers,  of 
which  these  parents  or  instructers  are  wholly  uncon- 
scious. But  without  insisting  on  these  things,  let  me 
appeal  to  your  own  observation.  Do  you  not,  every 
day,  meet  with  persons  who  appear  to  be  perfectly  in- 
sensible of  faults  and  imperfections,  which  every  man 
of  common  sagacity  would  discover  in  them  on  a  very 
slight  acquaintance  ?  Do  you  not  know  many  indi- 
viduals, whose  failings  are  known  from  one  end  of  the 
town  to  the  other,  but  who  know  nothing  of  them  them- 
selves ?  Did  you  ever  know  a  covetous  person,  who 
thought  himself  covetous  ?  or  a  vain  man,  who  thought 


A  DIFFICULT  ACQUISITION. 


83 


himself  vain?  or  a  proud  man,  who  thought  himself 
proud  ?    Do  you  not  often  hear  persons  censure  others 
for  faults  of  which  they  are  themselves  guilty,  and  per- 
haps in  a  much  greater  degree  ?    Do  not  persons  often 
apply  sermons  to  their  neighbors,  which  all,  who  knew 
them,  are  sensible  would  apply  much  better  to  them- 
selves?   In  a  word,  do  you  know  any  person  who,  you 
have  reason  to  believe,  is  perfectly  acquainted  with  his 
own  failings  ?  or  even  one  who  knows  them  as  well  as 
they  are  known  to  others  ?    Now  if  mankind  are  thus 
universally  blind  to  their  own  faults,  even  to  those 
faults  which  their  fellow  creatures  can  discover  in  them, 
much  more  must  they  be  blind  to  those  secret  sins  of 
the  heart,  which  men  cannot  discover,  but  which  are 
exceedingly  sinful  in  the  sight  of  a  holy,  heart-search- 
ing God ;  for  it  is  evidently  much  more  difficult  to  ac- 
quire a  knowledge  of  the  latter  than  of  the  former. 
Agreeably,  we  learn,  both  from  observation  and  from 
the  Scriptures,  that  of  those  sins  of  the  heart  in  which 
men's  errors  or  sinfulness  principally  consists  in  the 
sight  of  God,  they  are  all  by  nature  entirely  ignorant. 
For  instance,  the  Scriptures  inform  us  that  the  human 
heart  is  deceitful  above  all  things  and  desperately  wick- 
ed, that  it  is  full  of  evil,  that  in  it  there  dwells  no  good 
thing,  that  all  its  thoughts  and  imaginations  are  sinful ; 
that  it  is  enmity  against  God,  and  not  subject  to  his 
law,  and  that  it  is  hard,  a  heart  of  stone.    They  tell 
us  that  all  men  have  gone  out  of  the  way  5  that  they 
are  dead  in  trespasses  and  sins ;  that  there  is  none 
righteous^  none  that  doeth  good,  no  not  one ;  that  all 
have  broken  the  divine  law,  and  are  under  its  curse ; 
in  a  word,  that  all  deserve  everlasting  misery,  from 
which  it  is  impossible  for  any  to  escape,  but  through 
the  atonement  and  mediation  of  Christ.    Now  it  is  too 
evident  to  require  proof,  that  men  naturally  know  no- 
thing of  all  this,  that  they  are  completely  blind  to  the 
sinful  state  of  their  hearts  ;  and  so  blind,  that  it  is  im- 
possible for  human  means  to  convince  them  of  it,  or  to 
make  them  sensible  of  the  justice  of  their  condemnation. 


84 


KNOWLEDGE  OF  ONE'S  SINS 


Thus,  my  friends,  it  ever  has  been.  Thus  it  was  in 
the  days  of  Solomon  ;  for  we  read,  There  is  a  genera- 
tion that  are  pure  in  their  own  eyes,  and  yet  are  not 
washed  from  their  filthiness.  Thus  it  was  with  the 
Jews  in  the  days  of  the  prophets.  When  God  charged 
them  with  despising  his  name,  they  impudently  replied, 
Wherein  have  we  despised  thy  name  ?  WThen  he  threat- 
ened them  with  the  punishment  which  their  sins  deserv- 
ed, they  cried,  Wherefore  hath  the  Lord  pronounced  all 
this  great  evil  against  us  ?  or  what  is  our  iniquity  ?  or, 
what  is  our  sin  that  we  have  committed  against  the 
Lord  ?  Thus  it  was  with  the  same  nation  in  our  Sa- 
viour's time.  When  they  were  crucifying  the  Lord  of 
glory,  and  persecuting  his  disciples,  they  fancied  that 
they  loved  God,  and  flattered  themselves  that  they  were 
beloved  by  him;  and  at  the  very  moment,  when  the  mea- 
sure of  their  iniquity  was  full,  and  they  were  ripe  for 
ruin,  they  confided  in  their  own  supposed  innocence  and 
felt  secure.  The  same  ignorance  of  their  own  charac- 
ters, the  same  blindness  to  their  own  sinfulness,  has 
been  exhibited  by  mankind  ever  since.  Hundreds  of 
writers  have  asserted,  in  opposition  to  the  Scriptures, 
that  the  human  heart  is  naturally  good ;  that  mankind 
are  naturally  virtuous,  and  thousands  and  tens  of  thou- 
sands have  believed  the  assertion.  This  is  the  reason 
why  so  many  reject  the  Saviour.  They  will  not  come 
to  him,  because  they  do  not  feel  that  they  need  him  ; 
and  they  do  not  feel  that  they  need  him,  because  they 
are  blind  to  their  own  sinfulness.  And  this,  my  hear- 
ers, is  the  reason  why  so  many  of  you  neglect  him. 
You  do  not  understand  your  errors.  There  was  a  time, 
when  none  of  you  understood  them ;  and  though  some 
of  you  have  been  convinced  of  your  mistake,  in  this 
respect,  the  larger  part  are  still  insensible  ;  and  even 
those  who  are  best  acquainted  with  their  own  transgres- 
sions will  readily  acknowledge  that  they  are  very  far 
from  knowing  them  all.  Since  then  all  men  are  thus 
ignorant  of  their  own  failings  and  offences,  it  is  evident 


A  DIFFICULT  ACQUISITION. 


8$ 


that,  to  acquire  a  knowledge  of  them,  must  be  exceed- 
ingly difficult. 

That  it  is  so,  is  farther  evident  from  the  fact,  that  the 
influences  of  the  divine  Spirit  are  represented  as  neces- 
sary to  communicate  this  knowledge.  Speaking  of  this 
divine  agent,  our  Saviour  says,  When  he  is  come,  he 
shall  convince  the  world  of  sin.  Now  it  will,  I  presume, 
be  allowed,  that  God  would  not  send  his  Spirit  to  per- 
form a  needless  work.  But  it  would  be  needless  to 
convince  men  of  sin,  if  they  were  not  ignorant  of  their 
sins.  Did  they  possess  a  knowledge  of  them,  or  could 
men  communicate  to  them  this  knowledge,  the  convin- 
cing influences  of  the  divine  Spirit,  would  be  entirely 
needless.  But  they  are  not  needless  ;  they  are  indis- 
pensably necessary.  It  follows  then,  that  mankind  are 
so  blind  to  their  own  sinfulness,  so  ignorant  of  their  true 
characters,  that  the  Spirit  of  God  alone  can  remove  this 
blindness,  and  give  them  a  knowledge  of  themselves,  of 
their  sins. 

Having  thus  shewn  that  it  is  exceedingly  difficult  for 
men  to  understand  their  errors,  or  to  know  their  sins,  I 
proceed, 

II.  To  shew  why  it  is  so. 

1.  It  is  so,  because  men  are  ignorant  of  the  divine 
law.  The  apostle  observes  that,  where  there  is  no  law, 
there  is  no  transgression.  Of  course,  while  men  are  ig- 
norant of  the  law  they  must  be  ignorant  of  their  trans- 
gressions. Again,  the  apostle  observes,  that  by  the  law 
is  the  knowledge  of  sin.  Of  course,  those  who  know 
little  or  nothing  of  the  divine  law,  must  know  little  or 
nothing  of  sin.  Once  more ;  St.  John  observes,  that 
sin  is  a  deviation  from  the  law.  Of  course,  unless  men 
are  well  acquainted  with  the  law,  they  cannot  discover 
their  own  deviations  from  its  requirements.  But  man- 
kind are  naturally  ignorant  of  the  divine  law.  In  the 
language  of  the  apostle,  they  are  alive  without  the  law. 
They  have  no  proper  sense  of  the  strictness  and  spiri- 
tuality of  its  precepts.  Hence  they  regard  many  thing* 
as  innocent  and  even  as  laudable,  which  the  law  of  God 
S 


86 


KNOWLEDGE  OF  ONE'S  SINS 


©ondemns  as  sinful.  Agreeably,  Christ  informs  us,  that 
what  is  highly  esteemed  among  men  is  abomination  in 
the  sight  of  God.  It  is  evident  that  he,  who  would  un- 
derstand his  errors,  must  understand  the  divine  law, 
which  alone  can  tell  him  what  his  errors  are.  He  must 
have  this  law  in  his  mind,  in  his  memory,  in  his  con- 
science ;  and  he  must  be  familiarly  acquainted  with  all 
the  preceptive  and  practical  parts  of  God's  word,  and 
have  a  disposition  to  measure  his  conduct  daily  by  this 
rule.  But  men  have  naturally  neither  this  acquaintance 
with  the  rule,  nor  this  disposition  to  apply  it.  On  the 
contrary,  they  measure  themselves  by  themselves,  and 
compare  themselves  among  themselves.  Of  course, 
they  must  be  very  far  indeed  from  understanding  their 
errors. 

But  perhaps  it  will  be  asked,  if  men  are  thus  ignorant 
of  the  law,  how  can  they  be  justly  condemned  for  trans- 
gressing it  ?  I  answer,  because  their  ignorance  is  a  vol- 
untary ignorance.  They  have  the  law  of  God  in  their 
hands,  and  might  become  acquainted  with  it,  if  they 
would ;  and  it  is  a  maxim  with  the  divine,  as  well  as 
with  human  governments,  that  ignorance  of  the  law  ex- 
cuses no  one. 

2.  Another  cause,  which  renders  it  difficult  for  us  to 
acquire  a  knowledge  of  our  sins,  may  be  found  in  the 
nature  of  the  human  mind.  The  mind  has  been  justly 
compared  to  the  eye,  which,  while  it  perceives  other 
objects,  cannot  see  itself,  unless  it  be  furnished  with  a 
mirror.  Hence  men  usually  find  it  difficult  to  examine 
themselves,  to  discover  their  own  real  motives,  and  the 
secret  springs  of  action,  and  to  become  acquainted  with 
the  various  exercises  of  their  minds.  It  is  true,  they 
have,  in  the  law  and  word  of  God,  a  faithful  mirror, 
by  looking  into  which  they  might  see  and  know  them ; 
but  into  this  mirror,  unhappily,  men  do  not  love  to  look. 
They  dislike  it,  for  the  same  reason  that  the  Jews  hated 
Christ,  viz.,  because  it  testifies  that  their  deeds  are  evil, 
and  threatens  them  with  the  divine  displeasure.  Now 
while  men  indulge  this  dislike,  and  neglect  the  Bible,  it 


A  DIFFICULT  ACQUISITION. 


67 


is  as  certain  that  they  will  never  become  acquainted  with 
their  own  hearts,  as  it  is  that  they  will  never  see  their 
own  countenances  without  a  mirror ;  for  Jehovah  de- 
clares that  he  alone  knows  the  heart,  that  none  but  him- 
self can  know  it ;  and  the  knowledge  of  it  which  he  pos- 
sesses is  communicated  to  men  only  through  the  medi- 
um of  his  word. 

3.  Another  cause,  which  renders  it  exceedingly  diffi- 
cult for  men  to  discover  their  own  faults,  is  the  preva- 
lence of  self-love.  I  presume,  my  friends,  you  will  not 
deny  that  every  man  naturally  loves  himself  more  than 
any  other  object  in  the  universe.  Of  course,  he  will 
be  extremely  partial  in  judging  himself,  and  exceeding- 
ly unwilling  to  discover  faults  in  one  he  loves  so  well. 
You  are  sensible  that  men  are  seldom,  if  ever,  so  keen- 
sighted  in  discovering  the  faults  of  their  children,  their 
friends,  and  partizans,  as  they  are  in  discerning  the 
faults  of  others.  You  know  that  we  can  all  see  failings 
in  an  enemy  much  more  easily,  than  in  a  friend.  Of 
course,  since  men  love  themselves  better  than  even  their 
friends,  or  children,  they  must  be  still  more  blind  to 
their  own  failings,  still  more  slow  to  discern  and  ac- 
knowledge them.  Should  a  man  be  counsellor,  witness, 
jury,  and  judge,  in  a  case  where  his  estate  or.  his  life 
was  concerned,  would  you  not  expect  him  to  determine 
it  in  his  own  favor  ?  But  when  a  man  sets  himself  to 
examine  his  own  character,  and  to  try  his  title  to  the 
heavenly  inheritance,  he  is  counsellor,  witness,  jury, 
and  judge,  all  in  one  ;  and,  of  course,  he  will,  if  possi- 
ble, pronounce  a  favorable  sentence.  He  will  try  him- 
self by  some  easy  rule ;  he  will  make  the  best  excuse 
in  his  power  for  every  thing  that  can  be  excused  ;  he 
will  keep  some  things  entirely  out  of  sight ;  he  will  call 
his  faults  by  the  softest  name  which  they  can  be  made 
to  bear;  and  if  there  be  any  thing  which  he  can  nei- 
ther deny,  nor  overlook,  he  will  ascribe  it  to  the  force 
of  temptation,  or  the  frailty  of  human  nature,  and  plead 
that  it  is  nothing  worse  than  thousands  are  guilty  of,  who 
pass  for  honest  men. 


$8 


KNOWLEDGE  OF  ONE'S  SINS 


Besides,  to  counterbalance  these  few  failings,  he  can 
bring  a  multitude  of  good  actions  and  qualities,  so  that  on 
the  whole  his  life  and  character  appear  very  fair.  Thus 
thousands,  whom  God  would  condemn,  and  who  will  be 
condemned  at  the  judgment  day,  contrive,  under  the 
blinding  influence  of  self-love  and  self-partiality,  to  make 
themselves  appear  innocent,  and  even  praise- worthy, 
when  tried  at  their  own  bar.  To  say  all  in  a  word,  a 
bad  action  appears  much  less  criminal,  and  a  good  action 
much  more  laudable,  when  performed  by  ourselves,  than 
when  performed  by  others  :  and  the  self-love  which  oc- 
casions this,  would  alone,  without  any  assisting  cause, 
render  it  exceedingly  difficult  for  any  man  to  perceive 
his  own  sins  in  their  true  colors.  But  this  is  not  all. 
Self-love  not  only  makes  us  partially  or  totally  blind  to 
our  sins,  but  renders  us  exceedingly  unwilling  to  see 
them,  and  of  course  indisposed  to  search  for  them.  To 
see  our  sins,  is  always  painful.  It  mortifies  our  pride, 
owers  that  good  opinion  of  ourselves  which  we  all  nat- 
urally love  to  entertain,  disturbs  our  consciences,  destroys 
our  hopes  of  happiness  after  death,  and  perhaps  excites 
some  guilty  fears  of  the  divine  displeasure.  Now  self- 
love  prompts  us  almost  instinctively  to  avoid  every  thing 
whigh  gives  us  pain  ;  and  since  the  sight  of  our  sins  is 
thus  painful,  it  will  prevent  us  from  desiring  it,  and  even 
lead  us  to  avoid  it  by  every  means  in  our  power  ;  and  it 
is  well  known  that  what  a  man  does  not  wish  to  see,  he 
very  seldom  does  see. 

4.  What  the  Scriptures  call  the  deceitfulness  of  sin,  is 
another  cause  which  renders  it  extremely  difficult  for  us 
to  understand  our  errors.  I  need  not  tell  you  that  vice 
can  cloak  itself  with  the  garb  of  virtue,  or  that  sin  can 
assume  the  name  and  appearance  of  goodness.  Nor 
need  I  inform  you  that  actions  derive  their  character 
from  the  motives  which  prompt  us  to  perform  them,  so 
that  the  same  action,  which  is  good  when  prompted  by 
a  right  motive,  will  become  sinful  when  it  proceeds  from 
motives  which  are  wrong.  Now  it  is  by  no  means  easy 
for  men  to  ascertain  in  all  cases  the  real  motives  by 


A  DIFFICULT  ACQUISITION.  89 

which  they  are  actuated.  In  consequence  of  the  false 
names,  and  fair  disguises  whieh  sin  assumes,  and  in 
which  its  deceitfulness  consists,  we  may  easily  fancy  that 
we  are  governed  by  right  motives,  when  in  fact,  we  are 
not  so,  and  thus  class  our  sins  among  our  virtues.  For 
instance,  a  man  may  fancy  that  he  is  actuated  by  true 
zeal  for  God,  when  in  reality  it  is  nothing  but  a  selfish  zeal 
for  his  own  party ,or  sinful  anger  against  those  who  oppose 
him.  We  may  fancy  that  we  love  Christians,  when  in 
fact  we  feel  nothing  but  selfish  affection  for  those  of  our 
own  denomination.,  We  may  flatter  ourselves  that  we 
are  truly  charitable,  when  we  give  alms  to  the  poor,  and 
yet  we  may  be  really  actuated  by  a  desire  of  applause, 
or  by  a  wish  to  do  something  which  gratifies  our  pride9 
and  makes  us  think  more  highly  of  ourselves*  We  may 
think  that  we  feel  a  true  filial  fear  of  God,  when  we  have 
nothing  but  that  slavish  fear  of  punishment,  which  make$ 
the  devils  tremble  before  him.  We  may  fancy  that  we 
are  serving  God  and  aiming  to  glorify  him,  when  in  fact 
we  are  only  serving  and  aiming  to  honor  ourselves*  We 
may  fancy  that  we  read  and  attend  public  worship  with 
right  views  and  feelings,  -  when  in  fact  we  perform  these 
duties  merely  from  custom,  or  formality,  or  with  a  design 
to  quiet  our  consciences.  We  may  fancy  that  we  are 
only  prudent,  industrious,  and  economica-1,  when  we  are 
really  influenced  by  that  love  of  money  which  is  the  root 
of  all  evil,  or  that  love  of  the  world  which  proves  us  to 
be  the  enemies  of  God.  Now  in  all  these  cases,  that 
self-love  which  has  been  mentioned,  and  that  partiality 
which  results  from  it,  will  prompt  us  to  decide  in  our 
own  favor,  and  to  conclude  that  our  motives  are  good. 
Thus,  as  the  Scriptures  inform  us,  men  are  hardened 
through  the  deceitfulness  of  sin  ;  and  hence  as  sin  com- 
municates  its  own  character  to  the  sinful  heart,  the  heart 
is  said  to  be  deceitful  above  all  things.  My  friends,  it  is 
difficult  to  know  thoroughly  a  deceitful  man*  How 
much  more  difficult  must  it  be  to  know  a  heart  which  is 
deceitful  above  all  things ! 
8* 


90 


KNOWLEDGE  OF  ONE'S  SINS 


5.  Another  cause,  which  renders  it  exceedingly  diffi- 
cult for  men  to  acquire  a  knowledge  of  their  sins,"  is,' the 
effects  which  sin  produces  upon  their  understandings  and 
consciences.  I  need  not  tell  you  these  faculties  are  the 
eyes  of  the  soul,  without  which  she  can  discern  nothing. 
Now  it  is  a  most  certain  truth  that,  just  so  far  as  sin  pre- 
vails in  the  heart  and  life,  so  far  it  puts  out  or  darkens 
these  eyes  of  the  mind,  with  respect  to  all  spiritual  ob- 
jects |  so  that  it  is  always  the  case,  that  the  more  sinful 
a  man  really  is,  so  much  the  less  sinful  does  he  appear  to 
himself  to  be.  The  more  faults  he  has,  the  fewer  he  can 
discover  in  himself.  This  may  appear  to  some  of  you  a 
paradoxical  assertion,  but  however  it  may  appear  it  is 
strictly  true,  as  a  moment's  attention  to  the  Scriptures 
will  convince  you.  If  you  read  the  accounts  there  given 
us  of  different  characters,  you  will  find  that  the  worst 
men  ever  seem  to  be  most  ignorant  of  their  own  faults, 
and  most  unwilling  to  confess  and  repent  of  their  sins  ; 
while,  on  the  contrary,  those  who  were  most  eminently 
good,  seem  to  have  the  worst  opinion  of  themselves,  and 
to  be  most  ready  to  confess  that  they  were  the  chief  of 
sinners.  And,  my  friends,  is  it  not  so  still?  Do  not 
some  of  the  worst  characters,  with  whom  you  are  ac- 
quainted, appear  to  think  very  highly  of  themselves  ? 
And  are  there  not  others,  whom  you  can  justly  accuse 
of  no  particular  fault,  who,  so  far  as  you  can  judge,  re- 
gard themselves  as  exceedingly  sinful  ?  Now  this  ap- 
parently unaccountable  difference  is  owing  entirely  to 
the  effects  of  sin.  When  sin  prevails  in  the  heart,  it 
sears  the  conscience,  and  darkens  the  understanding,  so 
that  sin  is  not  perceived,  and  the  unhappy,  blinded 
wretch  feels  most  innocent  and  secure,  at  the  verv  mo- 
ment,  when  he  is  most  in  danger.  To  use  our  Saviour's 
expression,  the  light  that  is  in  him  becomes  darkness  : 
how  great  then,  he  adds,  is  that  darkness.  When  this 
is  the  case,  men,  as  the  prophet  expresses  it,  call  evil 
good  and  good  evil,  and  put  darkness  for  light,  and  light 
for  darkness.  They  can  no  more  discover  their  own 
sins3.  than  a  blind  man  can  discern  spots  of  blood  on 


A  DIFFICULT  ACQUISITION. 


his  garment,  or  than  dust  can  be  perceived  in  a  dark 
room.    We  may  add  in  connection  with  these  remarks, 
that  the  effect  of  habit  is  exceedingly  great  in  rendering 
men  insensible  to  their  sins.    Many  things  which  shock 
us  when  first  presented  to  our  view,  cease  to  affect  us  at 
all,  after  we  become  familiarized  to  them.    Now  men 
soon  become  familiarized  to  their  own  thoughts,  feelings, 
and  conduct.    They  seem  like  a  part  of  themselves, 
and,  however  wrong  they  may  at  first  appear,  they  soon 
cease  to  shock  or  offend,  and  at  length  pass  unnoticed 
and  unperceived.    The  young  soldier  starts  at  the  sight 
of  bloodshed  and  carnage,  but  after  a  few  battles  he 
plunges  his  bayonet  into  the  body  of  a  fellow  creature 
with  as  little  emotion  as  an  artificer  hews  a  block  of  wood. 
Or,  to  take  another  comparison  :  Enter  the  mud-walled 
habitation  of  a  savage,  blackened  with  smoke,  covered 
with  filth  of  every  kind,  and  half  filled  with  the  putrefy- 
ing remains  of  his  loathsome  repasts,  and  endeavor  to 
make  him  sensible  how  disgusting  these  things  are,  and 
to  inspire  him  with  the  love  of  neatness  and  order. 
Could  you  succeed  ?    Not  at  all.    He  sees  nothing 
filthy,  nothing  disgusting,  no  want  of  neatness  in  his  mis- 
erable and  disgusting  abode.    Why  ?    Because  he  is 
accustomed  to  it ;  and  his  blunted  senses  are  not  offend- 
ed.   My  friends',  it  is  the  same  with  the  dinner.    Sin  is 
the  defilement,  the  pollution  of  the  soul.    In  the  sight  of 
God  and  all  holy  beings,  it  is  a  thousand  fold  more 
loathsome  and  disgusting,  than  any  material  filthiness  can 
possibly  be  in  ours.    But  the  sinner  has  always  lived  in 
the  midst  of  this  moral  pollution.    He  is  therefore  fa- 
miliarized and  accustomed  to  it.    His  spiritual  senses, 
blunted  and  deadened,  are  not  offended,  and,  of  course, 
he  does  not  perceive  its  deformity.    He  sees  nothing 
loathsome,  nothing  wrong  in  his  heart,  when  in  the  sight 
of  God,  it  is  like  an  open  sepulchre,  full  of  putridity  and 
rottenness.    Hence  he  hears  of  that  fountain  which  is 
set  open  for  uncleanness,  of  that  blood  which  cleanses 
from  all  sin,  with  the  same  indifference  that  the  savage 
would  listen  to  a  harangue  on  the  benefits  of  personal 


92 


KNOWLEDGE  OP  ONE'S  SINS 


and  domestic  neatness.  This  being  the  case,  we  need 
not  be  at  a  loss  to  know  why  it  is  so  difficult  to  convince 
men  of  their  sinfulness,  to  make  them  understand  their 
errors. 

My  impenitent  hearers,  this  subject  is,  or  ought  to  be, 
exceedingly  interesting  to  you.  It  touches  upon  the 
very  point,  respecting  which  you  are  at  issue  with  the 
Bible,  upon  the  greatest  difficulty  which  opposes  your 
salvation.  The  point  in  dispute,  the  great  question,  is, 
whether  your  sins  are  so  numerous  and  aggravated,  and 
whether  your  hearts  are  so  entirely  depraved,  as  the 
Scriptures  represent  them  to  be.  I  presume,  if  you  were 
convinced  that  this  representation  is  strictly  true ;  if  you 
were  fully  convinced  that  your  hearts  are  deceitful  above 
all  things  and  desperately  wicked  ;  that  they  are  oppo- 
sed to  God  and  all  goodness,  and  unwilling  to  be  recon- 
ciled to  him,  there  would  be  no  difficulty  in  the  way  of 
your  assenting  to  all  the  doctrines  of  the  gospel.  You 
would  then  feel  that  it  is  perfectly  just  for  God  to  con- 
demn you  ;  you  would  feel  that  your  situation  is  danger- 
ous and  critical;  you  would  feel  your  need  of  a  Saviour, 
and  the  necessity  of  regeneration  ;  and  you  would  feel 
the  need  of  spiritual  and  divine  influences  to  effect  this 
change.  The  great,  the  only  question  then,  is,  are  you 
entirely  sinful,  or  are  you  not  ?  The  Scriptures,  you 
must  be  sensible,  seem  at  least  to  assert  that  you  are. 
You,  on  the  contrary,  contend  that  you  are  not;  But, 
my  friends,  methinks  the  remarks  which  have  been  made 
ought  to  excite  at  least  a  suspicion  in  your  minds  that 
you  may  be  deceived  in  this  respect.  You  have  heard 
that  it  is  exceedingly  difficult  for  a  man  to  understand 
his  own  errors  ;  that  we  are  extremely  prone  to  be  par- 
tial to  ourselves,  to  judge  too  favorably  of  our  own  char- 
acters. You  have  heard,  and  you  see  that  other  men 
do  this  ;  you  see  many  around  you  entirely  blind  to 
their  own  faults  ;  you  see  that  none  appear  to  be  suffi- 
ciently sensible  of  all  their  faults  ;  you  have  heard  how 
many  causes  combine  to  hide  our  sins  from  us  ;  and  you 
must  be  sensible  that  you  are  exposed  to  the  influence 


4 

A  DIFFICULT  ACQUISITION. 


of  all  these  causes.  Is  it  not  then  possible,  that  you  may 
be  deceived  ;  that  you  may  have  formed  too  favorable 
an  opinion  of  your  own  characters  ?  Will  any  one  of 
you  undertake  to  say,  that  he  is  wiser  than  all  other 
men  ;  that  though  they  are  blind  to  their  faults,  he  can 
discover,  and  has  discovered  all  his  own  ?  My  friends, 
if  you  dare  not  say  this,  you  must  allow  it  to  be,  at  least 
possible,  that,  after  all,  your  hearts  may  be  as  sinful,  as 
much  depraved,  as  the  Scriptures  represent  them  to  be. 
You  must  allow  that,  perhaps,  you  are  hateful  and  abom- 
inable in  the  sight  of  the- holy,  heart-searching  God,  and 
exposed  to  his  everlasting  displeasure.  All  your  good 
opinions  of  yourselves  may  be  nothing  but  the  effects  of 
secret  pride  and  self-delusion  ;  and  at  the  last  day,  when 
the  discovery  will  come  too  late,  you  may  find  that  you 
have  deceived  and  destroyed  yourselves.  My  friends, 
I  entreat  you  to  lay  these  things  seriously  to  heart ;  for 
a  mistake  here  will  be,  must  be  fatal.  Describing  the 
feelings  of  penitent  sinners,  God  says,  Then  shall  ye 
loathe  yourselves  in  your  own  sight,  on  account  of  your 
iniquities  and  abominations.  But  no  man  can  loathe 
himself,  or  repent  of  his  sins,  in  this  manner,  until  he  sees 
that  his  character  and  conduct  are  loathsome  ;  and  he 
who  cannot  repent,  cannot  be  pardoned  ;  for  Christ  ha3 
said,  Except  ye  repent,  ye  shall  perish*  Let  me  then 
prevail  upon  you  to  bring  your  characters  to  a  strict,  im- 
partial scrutiny,  to  try  them  by  the  law  and  word  of  God, 
and  to  remember,  during  the  trial,  that  there  is  no  dan* 
ger  of  forming  too  low  an  opinion  of  yourselves  ;  that  ali 
the  danger  lies  on  the  other  side  ;  that  you  will  be  ex- 
posed to  the  blinding  influence  of  self-love,  and  many 
other  causes,  which  will  combine  to  draw  from  you  too 
favorable  a  sentence.  And  when  you  have  done  all,  re- 
member that,  if  your  heart  condemn  you,  God  is  great- 
er  than  your  heart,  and  knoweth  all  things. 


SERMON  VII 


Sinners  in  Zion  described  and  doomed. 


AMOS  VI.  1. 

W9E  TO  THEM  THAT  ARE  AT  EASE  IN  ZIOJI. 

The  inspired  writers,  my  friends,  do  not  scatter  ei- 
ther blessings  or  curses  arbitrarily  and  indiscriminately 
without  informing  us  on  whom  they  will  fall.  They 
never  pronounce  a  blessing,  without  specifying  the  char- 
acters to  whom  it  belongs.  And  they  never  denounce 
a  curse  or  a  woe,  without  describing  some  class  of  sin- 
ners against  whom  it  is  directed.  Thus  they  rightly 
divide  the  word  of  truth,  and  give  every  one  his  proper 
portion.  An  instance  of  this  we  have  in  our  text,  where 
God,  by  the  mouth  of  his  prophet,  denounces  a  woe  or 
curse  against  such  as  are  at  ease  in  Zion. 

My  hearers,  all  who  believe  that  the  threatenings  of 
Jehovah  are  not  vain  words,  will  allow  that  it  is  highly 
important  for  all  to  know  the  import  of  this  woe,  and 
whether  it  is  directed  against  ourselves.  That  we  may 
obtain  this  knowledge,  let"  us  consider  the  characters 
here  mentioned,  and  the  woe  which  is  denounced  against 
them. 

I.  The  persons  here  mentioned  are  described,  as 
being  at  ease  in  Zion.  Zion,  you  are  sensible,  was 
the  name  of  an  eminence  on  which  the  Jewish  temple 
formerly  stood.  Hence  the  temple  was  called  Zion  ; 
and  to  go  up  to  Mount  Zion,  was  to  go  up  to  the  tern- 


SINNERS  IN  ZION,  &CC. 


pie  for  the  professed  purpose  of  worshipping  Jehovah- 
From  the  place  of  worship,  the  name  was  gradually  ex- 
tended to  the  worshippers,  so  that  in  process  of  time  the 
word  Zion  embraced  all  who  professed  to  know  and 
worship  God,-*— or  in  other  words,  the  whole  Jewish 
nation  ;  the  only  nation  at  that  time  in  the  world,  by 
which  the  true  God  was  worshipped  or  known.  To  be 
in  Zion,  then,  taking  the  word  in  its  largest  sense,  means, 
to  be  in  a  land  where  the  true  God  is  known  and  wor- 
shipped ;  where  religious  privileges,  similar  to  those  of 
the  Jews,  are  enjoyed  ;  a  land  of  gospel  light  and  lib- 
erty, where  Christ,  of  whom  the  temple  on  Mount  Zion 
was  a  type,  is  publicly  preached,  as  the  only  way  of  ac- 
cess to  God.  Taking  the  word  in  a  more  limited  sense, 
to  be  in  Zion  is  to  have  a  seat  in  the  house  of  God,  and 
to  be  among  those  who  statedly  meet  for  the  professed 
purpose  of  religious  worship.  If  we  confine  the  mean- 
ing of  the  term  within  still  narrower  limits,  it  will  include 
only  those  who  have  made  a  public  profession  of  relig- 
ion. In  this  sense  the  word  Zion  is  often  used  ;  but 
from  the  context  it  appears  that,  in  this  passage,  the  word 
is  used  in  its  most  extensive  signification,  embracing  all 
who  are  members  of  a  nation  or  community  by  which 
the  true  God  is  professedly  known  and  worshipped.  Of 
course,  my  hearers,  it  applies  to  ourselves ;  for  in  this 
sense  we  are  all  in  Zion.  We  live  in  a  land  of  gospel 
light  and  liberty  ;  we  enjoy  religious  privileges  similar 
to  those  of  the  Jews  ;  and  we  assemble  at  stated  sea- 
sens  in  the  house  of  God  ostensibly  and  professedly  with 
a  view  to  worship  him.  Since  then  we  are  all  in  Zion, 
let  us,  in  the  next  place,  inquire  whether  we  are  at  ease 
in  Zion. 

You  will  readily  perceive  that  the  ease  here  intended 
is  ease,  not  of  body,  but  of  mind  ;  ease  relating  not  to 
our  temporal  but  to  our  religious  or  spiritual  concerns. 
Our  bodies  may  be  filled  with  pain,  and  our  minds  har- 
assed with  continual  afflictions,  disappointments,  and 
anxieties,  so  as  to  be  strangers  to  peace,  and  yet  we  may 
be  perfectly  at  ease  in  the  sense  of  our  text.  Speaking 


96 


SINNERS  IN  ZION 


in  general  terms,  persons  are  at  ease  in  this  sense  ;  when 
they  feel  neither  sorrow  nor  alarm  on  account  of  their 
sins  ;  when  they  are  seldom  troubled  by  the  admonitions 
of  conscience  ;  when  they  are  unconcerned  respecting 
their  future  destiny ;  in  a  word,  when  they  are  not  en- 
gaged in  working  out  their  salvation  with  fear  and  trem- 
bling, but  feel  safe,  quiet  and  secure.  This  unconcern 
respecting  themselves  is  usually  accompanied  by  at  least 
equal  unconcern  respecting  the  salvation  of  others. 
Agreeably  we  are  informed  in  the  context,  that  ihe  per- 
sons here  described  are  not  grieved  for  the  affliction  of 
Joseph  ;  that  is,  for  the  evils  and  calamities  which  affect 
the  church.  They  are  far  from  being  able  to  say  with 
the  psalmist,  I  beheld  the  transgressors  and  was  grieved ; 
rivers  of  waters  run  down  mine  eyes,  because  men  keep 
not  God's  law.  They  never  weep  over,  or  pray  for,  a 
world  lying  in  wickedness,  but  view  with  frigid  indiffer- 
ence the  prevalence  of  sin  ;  and  manifest  no  zeal  to  pro- 
mote the  religious  interests  of  mankind. 

From  this  general  description  of  those  who  are  at  ease 
in  Zion,  it  must  be  evident  to  the  most  superficial  obser- 
ver, that  they  compose  a  very  numerous  body.  This 
body  may  be  divided  into  several  classes,  corresponding 
with  the  various  causes  to  which  their  ease  is  to  be  as- 
cribed.   These  causes  it  is  necessary  to  notice. 

Since  it  is  impossible  for  a  rational  being  to  be  per- 
fectly at  ease  and  unconcerned,  while  he  perceives  that 
he  is  exposed  to  endless  punishment  on  account  of  his 
sins,  it  is  evident  that  all  who  are  at  ease  in  Zion,  must 
feel  persuaded,  either  that  the  punishment  with  which 
sinners  are  threatened  will  never  be  inflicted  ;  or  that 
they  are  not  themselves  sinners ;  or  that,  though  sinners, 
they  shall  in  some  way  or  other  escape  the  punishment 
which  their  sins  deserve.  These  three  classes  include 
all  who  are  at  ease  in  Zion.  The  first  class  deny  that 
any  punishment  will  be  inflicted  on  sinners.  The  second 
class  allow  that  sinners  will  be  punished,  but  deny,  or  at 
least,  do  not  perceive  that  they  are  sinners.  The  third 
class  acknowledge  that  they  are  sinners,  and  that  sinners 


DESCRIBED  AND  DOOMED. 


will  be  punished  ;  but  still  flatter  themselves  that  they 
shall  escape  punishment.  Let  us  consider  each  of  these 
classes  in  order. 

1.  The  first  class  includes  infidels  of  every  description. 
Such  were  those  who  denied  the  immortality  of  the  soul, 
and  said,  Let  us  eat  and  drink,  for  to-morrow  we  die. 
Such  were  those  who  denied  God's  government  of  the 
world,  saying,  The  Lord  seeth  not,  the  Lord  hath  for- 
saken the  earth  ;  he  will  not  do  good,  neither  will  he 
do  evil.  Such  were  those  of  whom  the  psalmist  speaks, 
who  contemned  God,  and  encouraged  themselves 
by  saying,  He  will  never  requite  it ;  and  whose  conduct 
led  him  to  conclude  that  there  was  no  fear  of  God  before 
their  eyes.  Such  also  were  the  scoffers,  mentioned  by 
St.  Peter,  who  walked  after  their  vain  lusts,  and  asked, 
Where  is  the  promise  of  his  coming?  Such  characters, 
there  is  reason  to  fear,  are  to  be  found  at  the  present 
day  5  but  it  will  probably  be  impossible  to  disturb  their 
false  peace  by  arguments  drawn  from  a  book  whose  con- 
tents they  disbelieve.  They  must  be  left,  unless  other 
means  prevent,  to  enjoy  their  fatal  ease  till  the  day,  in 
which,  like  the  devils,  they  will  believe  and  tremble. 

In  this  first  class  may  also  be  placed  those  who  be- 
lieve that  all  men  will  be  saved  ;  for  they  deny  that  the 
punishment  threatened  in  the  Bible  will  be  inflicted  on 
any.  Such  were  those  false  prophets  who  cried  Peace, 
peace,  when  there  was  no  peace,  and  of  whom  God 
said,  I  have  seen  a  horrible  thing  in  the  prophets  of  Je- 
rusalem ;  for  they  walk  in  lies,  and  strengthen  the  hands 
of  evil  doers,  so  that  none  of  them  doth  return  from  his 
wickedness.  They  say  still  unto  them  that  depise  me, 
Ye  shall  have  peace  ;  and  they  say  unto  every  one  that 
walketh  after  the  imagination  of  his  own  heart,  No  evil 
shall  come  upon  you.  With  lies  they  make  sad  the 
heart  of  the  righteous  whom  I  have  not  made  sad,  and 
strengthen  the  hands  of  the  wicked  that  he  should  not 
return  from  his  wicked  way,  by  promising  him  life. 
Therefore,  thus  saith  the  Lord  of  Hosts  concerning  the 
prophets,  Hearken  not  unto  their  words,  for  they  make 


SINNERS  IN  ZION 


yon  vain ;  they  speak  a  vision  of  their  own  heart,  and 
not  out  of  the  mouth  of  the  Lord,  and  behold,  I  will 
feed  them  with  wormwood,  and  make  them  drink  the 
water  of  gall ;  for  from  the  false  prophets  is  profaneness 
gone  out  into  all  the  land.  Such  too,  \vere  the  disciples 
of  these  prophets  who  when  they  heard  the  curse  of  the 
law  blessed  themselves  in  their  hearts,  and  said,  We 
shall  have  peace,  though  we  walk  in  the  imagination  of 
our  hearts,  to  add  one  sin  to  another ;  and  of  whom 
God  said,  The  Lord  will  not  spare  them,  but  the  anger 
of  the  Lord  and  his  jealousy  shall  smoke  against  them, 
and  all  the  curses  that  are  written  in  this  book  shall  be 
upon  them  ;  and  the  Lord  shall  blot  out  their  name  from 
under  heaven.  My  friends,  if  any  man,  after  hearing 
these  passages,  can  find  ease  in  believing  the  doctrine 
of  universal  salvation,  I  envy  him  not  the  enjoyment  of 
that  ease, 

2.  Let  us  proceed,  in  the  next  place,  to  the  second 
class  mentioned  above ;  the  class  composed  of  those 
who  allow  that  sinners  will  be  punished,  but  who  deny, 
or,  to  speak  more  properly,  do  not  appear  to  believe  that 
they  are  sinners.  They  will  allow  indeed,  in  words, 
that  they  have  committed  some  sins,  though  even  this 
they  do  not  seem  to  feel ;  but"  they  utterly  deny  that 
they  are  such  sinners  as  the  Bible  describes  ;  and  flatter 
themselves  that  their  sins  are  far  too  few  and  too  small 
to  require  an  infinite  atonement,  or  to  merit  everlasting 
punishment.  They  find,  or  fancy  that  they  find  none 
better  than  themselves,  few  so  good,  and  very  many 
worse.  Hence  they  conclude  that  they  are  in  no  dan- 
ger, that  they  have  nothing  to  fear,  and  of  course  feel 
easy 'and  secure.  Such  were  the  generation  mentioned 
by  Solomon  who  were  pure  in  their  own  eyes,  but  who 
had  never  been  cleansed  from  their  filthiness.  Such 
too  was  St.  Paul  before  his  conversion.  I  was  alive, 
says  he,  without  the  law  once,  but  when  the  command- 
ment came,  sin  revived  and  I  died.  Now  to  the  per- 
sons of  whom  we  are  speaking  the  commandment  never 
came.    They  are  without  die  law.    They  know  nothing 


DESCRIBED  AND  DOOMED.  §9 

of  its  spirituality,  strictness,  and  extent ;  and  since  by 
the  law  is  the  knowledge  of  sin,  they,  being  without  the 
law,  know  nothing  of  their  sins.  They  never  tried  them- 
selves by  this  rule.  They  never  considered  that  he  who 
does  not  love  God  with  all  his  heart,  and  his  neighbor  as 
himself,  tramples  at  once  upon  the  law  and  the  prophets, 
and  violates  in  effect  every  precept  of  both.  And  as 
they  never  tried  themselves  by  the  law  of  God,  it  is  evi- 
dent that  they  cannot  feel  condemned  by  this  law  ;  and 
since  neither  human  laws  nor  human  maxims  condemn 
them,  they  feel  free  from  condemnation,  and  fear  no  con- 
demnatory sentence,  when  tried  at  the  bar  of  God.  We 
endeavored  to  show  you,  a  few  Sabbaths  since,  how  ex- 
ceedingly difficult  it  is  to  understand  our  errors.  Now 
these  persons  do  not  understand  their  errors.  They 
have  never  been  convinced  of  sin,  of  righteousness,  and 
of  judgment ;  or  have  never  been  awakened,  have  never 
complied  with  the  apostolic  exhortation,  Awake,  thou 
that  sleepest,  and  arise  from  the  dead,  and  Christ  shall 
give  thee  life.  They  are,  therefore,  like  a  man  buried 
in  sleep,  totally  unconscious  of  their  true  character  and 
situation,  insensible  of  their  sins,  and  of  the  danger  to 
which  their  sins  expose  them.  Their  slumbering  con- 
sciences were  never  thoroughly  awakened  to  perforin 
their  office.  In  the  language  of  Scripture,  they  have 
eyes,  but  they  see  not ;  ears  have  they,  but  they  hear 
not  ;  for  the  spirit  of  deep  slumber  is  fallen  upon  them. 
So  deep  indeed,  so  profound  are  their  slumbers,  or  rath- 
er their  lethargy,  that  they  are  said  to  be  dead  in  tres- 
passes and  sins ;  and  hence,  like  the  lifeless  tenants  of 
the  tomb,  they  perceive  not  that  they  are  dead.  Hence 
they  never  felt  that  they  are  exposed  to  the  wrath  to 
come ;  and,  of  course,  have  never  fled  from  it,  never 
asked  with  anxiety  or  even  with  seriousness,  What  shall 
we  do  to  be  saved  ?  What  may  appear  still  more  strange, 
though  they  profess  to  hope  for  heaven,  they  seem  to 
regard  it  with  indifference.  At  least,  their  hopes  do  no£ 
appear  to  wean  them  from  the  world,  or  to  support  them 
under  the  evils  of  life,  or  to  afford  them  any  solid  con  so 


100 


SINNERS  IN  ZION 


lation,  or  even  to  excite  any  gratitude  ;  nor  do  they  man- 
ifest any  desire  to  anticipate  the  happiness  of  heaven  by 
engaging  in  its  employments  while  here  below.  In  short, 
every  religious  feeling  is  dead  or  asleep  in  their  breasts  ; 
and  to  every  religious  object  they  are  insensible.  At 
morning,  at  noon,  and  at  night,  religion  may  knock  at  the 
door  of  their  hearts,  but  there  is  no  voice  nor  any  that 
regardeth.  All  within  is  silent,  and  cold,  and  still,  as  a 
sepulchre.  They  are  at  ease  in  Zion,  asleep  in  the 
house  of  God,  dreaming  of  worldly  objects  and  pleasures, 
to  which  they  are  all  awake  and  alive,  and  in  the  pur- 
suit of  which,  all  their  powers  are  engaged.  In  this 
class  too  may  be  included  those  who  have  at  some  pe- 
riod of  life  been  the  subjects  of  serious  impressions, 
but  have  either  stifled  those  impressions  by  a  violent  re- 
sistance,— dismissed  them  with  excuses,  or  suffered  them 
to  be  effaced  by  negligence.  Such  persons  have  not- 
always  been  at  ease  in  Zion.  Their  false  peace  has 
been  disturbed,  their  consciences  have  been  awakened, 
and  they  have  trembled  at  her  voice  and  smarted  under 
her  scourge.  But  in  some  one  of  the  ways  mentioned 
above,  her  voice  has  been  silenced,  or  she  has  been 
lulled  to  sleep  by  opiates  ;  and  now  these  wretched  self- 
destroyers  slumber  even  more  quietly  and  profoundly 
than  before,  except  when  the  unwelcome  light  of  truth, 
or  the  disagreeable  voice  of  reproof  disturbs  them  by  ex- 
citing mingled  emotions  of  anger,  contempt,  and  fear. 
Such  persons  the  apostle  compares  to  trees,  twice  dead, 
plucked  up  by  the  roots.  Their  consciences  are  seared 
as  with  an  hot  iron;  and  because  they  receive  not  the 
truth  in  the  love  of  it,  that  they  might  be  saved,  God 
often  sends  them  strong  delusions,  so  that  they  believe 
a  lie.  Hence  they  usually  remain  not  long  in  this  class, 
but  after  various  changes  seek  refuge  and  ease  in  uni- 
versalism  or  infidelity. 

3.  Oar  attention  is  next  called  to  the  third  class  men- 
tioned above.  This  class  seem  to  be  less  distant  from 
the  truth  than  either  of  the  others.  They  acknowledge 
that  they  are  sinners,  and  that  sinners  will  be  punished ; 


DESCRIBED  AND  DOOMED 


101 

1 


and  yet  they  are  at  ease,  for  they  contrive  in  various 
ways  to  persuade  themselves  that  though  other  sinners 
will  be  punished,  they  shall  themselves  escape.  In 
places  where  the  gospel  is  clearly  and  faithfully  preach- 
ed, this  class  is  usually  much  more  numerous  than  ei- 
ther of  the  former,  and  includes  a  greater  variety  of 
characters.  In  the  first  place,  it  includes  all  who  main- 
tain their  false  peace  by  promises  of  future  repentance 
and  reformation,  and  by  hopes,  founded  on  these  prom- 
ises, that  they  shall  secure  salvation  before  death  arrives. 
Such  persons,  though  habitually,  are  not  always  at  ease. 
Their  avowed  belief  that  they  are  sinners,  and  that  sin- 
ners will  be  punished,  renders  it  impossible  for  them  to* 
be  perfectly  free  at  all  times  from  anxiety  and  alarm. 
The  attacks  of  disease,  or  the  sudden  death  of  an  ac- 
quaintance, or  a  pungent  sermon,  will  often  disturb  them 
for  a  moment;  but  they  soon  recover  their  peace  of 
mind  by  making  fresh  promises  and  resolutions  to  be- 
come religious  at  some  future  period.  On  the  fulfil- 
ment of  these  promises  and  resolutions  they  rely  with 
the  fullest  confidence.  They  seem  not  to  entertain  the 
smallest  doubt  that  they  shall  become  truly  pious  before 
the  close  of  life*  At  the  worst,  they  shall  repent  on 
their  dying  bed  ;  for  these  persons  almost  ever  expect  to 
die  of  some  lingering  disease,  which  wtll  afford  them 
full  opportunity  to  fulfil  their  resolutions  and  make  their 
peace  with  God.  The  possibility  that  death  may  sur- 
prise them  suddenly  and  unexpectedly,  or,  that  God, 
provoked  by  their  delays,  may  give  them  up,  is  entirely 
overlooked  ;  and  they  rely  with  as  much  confidence  on 
their  anticipated  goodness,  as  if  they  were  actually  pos* 
sessed  of  it ;  so  that  perhaps  the  most  established  Chris- 
tian does  not  feel  more  sure  of  salvation.  Agreeably, 
they  are  represented  in  the  context  as  putting  far  away 
the  evil  day.  At  the  head  of  the  class  stands  Felix. 
When  he  heard  Paul  reasoning  of  righteousness,  tem- 
perance, and  judgment  to  come  ^  he  trembled.  Hk 
delusive  ease  was  for  the  moment  disturbed,  but  he  soora 
restored  it,  by  saying,  Go  thy  way  for  this  time,  wheis 
-  0* 


102 


SINNERS  IN  ZION 


I  have  a  convenient  season  I  will  call  for  thee.  My 
hearers,  if  all  the  fair  promises  and  good  resolutions 
which  have  since  been  made,  with  reference  to  a  future 
convenient  season,  had  been  executed,  the  situation  and 
appearance  of  mankind  would  be  widely  different  from 
what  they  now  are  ;  joy  would  have  been  much  more 
frequently  felt  in  heaven  over  repenting  sinners,  and  the 
celestial  city  would  have  been  thronged  by  millions  who 
will  never  enter  its  gates.  But  alas,  this  convenient 
season  very  seldom  arrives;  and,  of  course,  the  resolu- 
tions which  depend  for  fulfilment  upon  its  arrival,  are 
seldom  performed.  They  serve  only  to  defraud  those 
who  make  them  of  their  opportunities,  and  of  salvation, 
and  to  maintain  a  delusive,  fatal  ease,  which  could  be 
maintained  by  those  persons  in  no  other  way,  and  which, 
if  not  destroyed,  inevitably  destroys  all  who  indulge  it. 
The  greater  part  of  those  who  recur  to  this  method  of 
maintaining  it,  are  to  be  found  among  the  young,  espe- 
cially among  those  of  them,  who  have  received  a  relig- 
ious education,  or  who  have  enjoyed  from  their  child- 
hood the  clear  light  of  the  gospel.  Such  persons  are 
usually  not  sufficiently  hardened  in  unbelief  to  make 
light  of  God's  threatenings ;  nor  are  their  consciences 
so  far  seared  as  to  render  them  insensible  of  their  sins  ; 
nor  can  they  at  once  reject  the  truths  which  they  have 
been  taught,  and  seek  refuge  in  infidelity.  They  have 
therefore  no  way  to  render  themselves  easy  in  their  sins, 
except  that  which  has  now  been  described ;  making 
good  resolutions;  and  their  youth,  their  health,  and 
their  expectation  of  long  life,  encourage  them  to  adopt 
this  method  by  promising  them  many  future  opportuni- 
ties or  convenient  seasons  for  the  performance  of  these 
resolutions.  There  is  perhaps  no  class  of  sinners  whose 
situation  is  more  dangerous ;  certainly  no  one  which 
occasions  more  anxiety  and  uneasiness  to  the  faithful 
ministers  of  Jesus  Christ,  than  this.  It  is  impossible  to 
know  what  course  to  pursue  with  them.  To  wait  for 
the  fulfilment  of  their  resolutions,  is  like  pursuing  the 
termination  of  a  rainbow,  which  still  recedes  as  you  ad- 


DESCRIBED  AND  DOOMED. 


108 


vance.  They  assent  to  every  thing,  but  they  really 
yield  to  nothing.  Tell  them  that  they  are  sinners,  they 
confess  it ;  that  they  are  objects  of  God's  displeasurej 
they  acknowledge  it ;  that  they  are  exposed  to  the  wrath 
to  come,  they  allow  it ;  that  they  ought  immediately  to 
repent  and  secure  salvation,  they  are  sensible  that  this 
is  their  duty.  But  he  who,  therefore,  expects  to  see 
them  do  this,  will  find  himself  most  wretchedly  disap- 
pointed. Visit  them  tomorrow,  and  you  will  find  them 
just  where  they  were  before,  just  as  far  as  ever  from  the 
kingdom  of  heaven  ;  and  all  your  efforts  to  rouse  them 
must  be  again  repeated,  and  again  prove  unavailing. 
Yet  these  very  persons  often  look  with  contempt  or  in- 
dignation upon  infidels  and  heretics,  though  they  are 
far  more  inconsistent  than  either.  They  seem  to  fancy 
that  there  is  some  merit  in  holding  and  assenting  to  the 
truth,  though  they  hold  it  in  unrighteousness  ;  nay  more, 
even  though  they  wrest  it  to  their  own  destruction ;  for 
this  many  of  them  do.  They  justify  their  delays  by 
pretending  that  they  can  do  nothing,  and  by  pleading 
that  they  must  wait  God's  time  ;  that  when  he  shall 
see  fit  to  convert  them,  they  are  willing  to  be  converted  ; 
thus  wholly  casting  the  blame  of  their  sins  upon  Jeho- 
vah, and  condemning  the  Almighty  that  they  may  justi- 
fy themselves. 

In  the  second  place,  this  class  includes  all  who  enter- 
tain a  false  and  groundless  persuasion  that  they  have 
already  become  pious,  obtained  the  pardon  of  their  sins, 
and  secured  the  favor  of  God.  The  reasons  why  per- 
sons feel  such  a  persuasion  are  various.  Some  feel  it 
because  they  are  more  sober,  more  moral,  and  more  at- 
tentive to  the  externals  of  religion,  than  they  were  ; 
others,  because  they  have  made  a  public  profession  of 
religion,  and  united  themselves  to  the  visible  church  of 
Christ ;  a  third  class,  because  their  religious  sentiments 
are  correct  and  orthodox ;  and  a  fourth,  because  they 
fancy  that  they  have  experienced  that  great  moral  change, 
which  the  inspired  writers  call  regeneration.  Their  con- 
sciences have,  perhaps,  been  awakened,their  understand- 


104 


SINNERS  IN  ZION 


ings  enlightened,  their  fears  alarmed,  and  their  feelings 
strongly  excited.  They  have  been  in  some  measure 
convinced  of  their  sins,  and  fancy  that  they  have  truly 
repented,  believed  in  the  Saviour,  and  obtained  pardon, 
when,  in  fact,  this  is  not  the  case.  Many  such  instan- 
ces are  mentioned  in  the  Scriptures,  and  daily  observa- 
tion proves  that  they  are  still  to  be  found.  But  in 
whichever  of  these  ways,  or  for  which  of  these  reasons 
soever,  persons  falsely  persuade  themselves  that  they 
are  pious,  the  effects  are  the  same  ;  they  immediately 
appropriate  to  themselves  all  the  precious  promises 
which  are  made  to  the  pious ;  call  God  their  Father, 
Christ  their  Saviour,  and  heaven  their  portion  ;  and 
leave  to  others  the  warnings  and  threatenitigs.  Of  course 
they  feel  perfectly  secure.  They  flatter  themselves 
that  their  souls  are  safe,  that  their  salvation  is  secured  ; 
and  now  they  have  little  or  nothing  to  do,  but  reap  the 
reward  of  their  labors,  and  pursue  their  secular  con- 
cerns without  interruption  or  restraint. 

Thus,  my  hearers,  have  we  noticed  particularly  the 
several  classes  which  together  compose  the  great  body 
of  those  who  are  at  ease  in  Zion.  How  little  reason 
they  have  to  be  thus  at  ease,  will  appear,  if  we  consider, 
as  was  proposed,. 

II.  The  woe,  which  is  denounced  against  them  in  our 
text.  Woe  to  them  that  are  at  ease  in  Zion  !  The 
expression  is  remarkable.  There  is  no  particular  curse 
or  threatening  denounced  against  them ;  but  the  doom 
is  expressed  in  general  terms ;  in  terms,  which  may 
include  curses  and  threatenings  of  every  kind  ;  and 
which  are  therefore  the  more  terrible.  Woe  to  them  ; 
that  is,  let  curses  be  upon  them,  let  misery  pursue  them. 
In  the  context,  however,  their  doom  is  more  particu- 
larly described.  It  is  there  declared  that  the  punish- 
ment, which  they  did  not  fear,  shall  fall  first  upon  them. 
But  why,  it  may  be  asked,  is  this  doom  denounced  on 
such  characters  ?  Why  are  they  thought  worthy  of  a 
punishment  so  severe  I    I  answer, 

1.  Because  the  ease  which  they  feel  proves  that  they 


DESCRIBED  AND  DOOMED, 


105 


belong  to  the  number  of  the  wicked.  If  there  is  any 
truth  in  the  Scriptures,  it  is  certain  that  all  who  are  ha- 
bitually at  ease  in  Zion  know  nothing  of  true  religion. 
They  are  either  careless  sinners,  or  self-deluded  hypo- 
crites. The  pious  man,  the  true  Christian,  is  described 
by  the  inspired  writers,  as  one  who  mourns  for  sin,  who 
is  engaged  in  a  spiritual  warfare,  who  is  fighting  the  good 
fight  of  faith,  who  crucifies  the  flesh  with  its  affections 
and  lusts,  who  is  running  the  Christian  race,  who  is  en- 
gaged in  subduing  and  mortifying  his  sinful  propensities, 
who  denies  himself,  takes  up  his  cross  daily,  and  fol- 
lows Christ,  who,  as  a  pilgrim,  a  stranger,  a  traveller,  is 
seeking  another  and  better  country,  who  works  out  his 
salvation  with  fear  and  trembling.  Now  is  it  possible, 
that  a  man,  who  is  doing  all  this  can  be  at  ease  in  the 
sense  of  our  text  ?  A  soldier  in  the  field  of  battle  at 
ease  !  a  man  running  a  race  at  ease  !  a  traveller,  toil- 
ing up  a  steep  ascent,  bearing  the  cross,  at  ease  S  a  man 
crucifying  sinful  propensities,  dear  as  a  right  hand  or 
right  eye,  at  ease  !  a  man  working  out  his  salvation  with 
fear  and  trembling,  at  ease  !  a  man  who  hates  and 
mourns  for  sin,  loves  God,  and  feels  concerned  for  his 
perishing  fellow  creatures,  at  ease  in  a  world  lying  in 
wickedness,  where  God  is  dishonored,  where  Christ  is 
neglected,  where  immortal  souls  are  perishing  by  mil- 
lions ;  where  there  is  so  much  to  be  done,  so  much  to 
be  suffered,  so  much  to  be  guarded  against,  and  resist- 
ed 5  where  death  stands  at  the  door  ready  every  mo- 
ment to  summon  him  to  his  great  account !  My  friends, 
it  is  impossible.  No  Christian  can  be  habitually  easy, 
careless,  and  indolent  in  such  a  situation  as  this  ?  He 
may,  perhaps,  slumber,  for  a  moment,  but  even  then  he 
is  not  at  ease.  Agreeably,  our  Saviour  represents  the 
enjoyment  of  this  false  peace,  as  the  characteristic  of 
one,  who  is  completely  subjugated,  enslaved,  and  blind- 
ed by  sin.  When  the  strong  man  armed,  says  he,  keep- 
eth  his  palace,  his  goods  are  in  peace ;  that  is,,  when 
sin  and  Satan  keep  the  heart,  and  fortify  it  against  God  ; 
when  the  eyes  of  the  mind  are  so  blinded,  that  they 


106 


SINNERS  IN  2SION 


see  no  danger ;  when  the  voice  of  conscience  is  stifled, 
so  that  it  does  not  warn  us  of  danger;  when  the  heart 
is  so  hard,  that  it  does  not  tremble  at  God's   word ; 
then  the  soul  is  at  peace,  then  it  is  at  ease  in  Zion. 
But  does  the  Christian,  it  may  perhaps  be  asked,  en- 
joy no  peace  ?    Are  we  not  told  of  a  peace  of  God 
which  passes  all  understanding?     Does  not  Christ 
promise  rest  to  his  followers  ;  and  are  we  not  told  that 
they  who  believe  have  entered  into  rest?    I  answer, 
yes;  the  Christian  does  enjoy  peace,  but  it  is  a  peace 
as  widely  different  from  the  careless,  indolent  ease, 
which  we  have  been  describing,  as  is  the  rest  of  a 
healthy  man,  from  the  lethargic  slumber  of  the  apoplec- 
tic, or  the  stupefaction   of  the  drunkard.    The  rest 
which  Christ  promises  is  promised  to  those  who  take 
upon  them  his  yoke,  and  learn  of  him  ?    And  does  he 
inculcate  indolence,  or  carelessness  ?    Was  he  ever  at 
ease  in  this  world  ?    Was  it  not  his  meat  and  drink,  his 
employment,  and  his  recreation,  his  labor  and  his  rest, 
to  do  his  Father's  will  and  finish  his  work  ?    Did  he  not 
teach  his  disciples  both  by  precept  and  example,  to 
work  while  the  day  lasts,  to  be  up  and  doing,  waiting 
for  his  coming,  and  watching  unto  prayer?    So  the 
peace  which  passes  all  understanding,  is  promised  to 
them  only  who,  in  every  thing,  by  prayer  and  supplica- 
tion, with  thanksgiving,  make  known  their  requests  unto 
God.    And  we  read  when  the  churches  of  Christ  en- 
joyed rest,  they  walked  in  the  fear  of  God.  The 
man  then,  who  is  habitually  at  ease  in  Zion,  is  not, 
cannot  be  a  Christian  ;  he  has  not  one  feature  of 
Christ's  image,  one  mark  of  the  Christian  character. 
And  if  he  is  not  a  Christian,  he  is  an  impenitent  sinner ; 
if  he  is  not  righteous  he  is  wicked  ;  for  in  the  sight  of 
God  there  are  but  two  classes  of  character  among  men  ; 
and  if  he  is  one  of  the  wicked,  then  woe  unto  him  ;  for 
God  directs  all  his  messengers  to  say,  Woe  to  the  wick- 
ed, it  shall  be  ill  with  him,  for  the  reward  of  his  hands 
shall  be  given  him. — Again,  Woe  to  them  that  are  at 
ease  in  Zion  !  for  they  are  not  only  sinners,  but  sinners 


DESCRIBED  AND  DOOMED. 


107 


of  no  common  stamp,  sinners  whose  guilt  and  sinfulness 
are  peculiaily  aggravated,  and  whose  punishment  will 
therefore  be  peculiarly  severe.  This  will  be  evident  if 
we  reflect  a  moment  on  their  situation  and  on  the  privi- 
leges which  they  abuse,  on  the  motives  which  they  resist, 
on  the  obligations  which  they  violate.  They  are  in 
Zion  ;  and  in  Zion  God  is  known,  in  Zion,  is  his  earth- 
ly dwelling  place,  in  Zion,  he  makes  the  clearest  mani- 
festations of  himself  which  have  ever  been  made  to  mor- 
tals ;  in  Zion  the  thunders  of  his  law  are  heard  ;  in  Zion 
the  gracious  invitations  of  the  gospel  are  proclaimed  ;  in 
Zion,  Christ  is  set  forth  evidently  crucified  as  a  propi- 
tiation for  sin  ;  in  Zion,  life  and  immortality  are  brought 
to  light ;  in  Zion  the  Sun  of  Righteousness  shines  ;  on 
Zion  the  rain  of  righteousness  is  poured  out ;  in  a  word, 
Zion  is  God's  vineyard,  in  which  his  servants  are  com- 
manded to  labor  ;  the  field  of  battle,  in  which  the  Cap- 
tain of  our  salvation  summons  his  soldiers  to  combat ; 
and  in  which  crowns,  thrones,  and  kingdoms,  immortal 
as  their  Giver,  are  held  up  to  view  as  the  reward  of  vic- 
tory. Here,  then,  is  every  motive  to  exertion,  which 
can  be  presented  to  rational  beings  ;  motives  addressed 
to  every  power  and  faculty  of  our  natures,  to  our  under- 
standings and  to  our  consciences  ;  to  our  wills  and  our 
affections ;  to  our  hopes  and  to  our  fears,  to  our  love 
and  to  our  gratitude  ;  to  our  desire  of  happiness,  and  to 
our  aversion  to  misery.  These  motives,  too  are  presen- 
ted to  us  and  urged  upon  us  by  God  himself,  by  our  Cre- 
ator, our  Father,  our  Preserver,  our  Benefactor,  our 
Sovereign  and  our  Judge  ;  by  the  God  and  Father  of  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ.  He  then  who  is  at  ease  in  Zion,  must 
be  deaf  to  God's  voice,  he  must  be  blind  to  God's  glories ; 
he  must  be  insensible  to  every  spiritual  object ;  he  must 
be  regardless  of  his  immortal  soul,  and  unconcerned  for 
the  salvation  of  others ;  he  must  sin  against  light  and 
against  love  ;  he  is  a  servant  who  knows  his  Lord's  will  and 
does  it  not,  and  shall,  therefore  be  beaten  with  many 
stripes.  He  is  a  sentinel  who  slumbers  on  his  post.  He 
then,  who  can  be  indolent  in  J5ion,  would  be  indolent  in 


108 


SINNERS  IN  ZION 


heaven ;  and  fall  asleep  while  the  glories  of  Jehovah 
blazed  around  him,  and  the  countless  myriads  of  the  re- 
deemed celebrated  those  glories  with  eternal  songs.  If 
the  heathen  are  without  excuse,  as  an  apostle  declares 
them  to  be,  though  they  have  nothing  but  the  light  of 
nature ;  how  awfully  inexcusable,  must  those  be  who 
are  at  ease  in  Zion  ! 

Once  more,  Woe  to  them  that  are  at  ease  in  Zion  ! 
because  there  is  little  reason  to  hope  that  they  will  ever 
repent.  With  respect  to  those  whose  false  peace  is  dis- 
turbed, who  are  awakened,  alarmed,  convinced  of  sin, 
and  inquiring  for  a  Saviour,  there  is  some  ground  to 
hope.  But  on  what  grounds  can  we  hope  for  the  sal- 
vation of  them  that  are  at  ease  ;  at  ease  in  Zion,  who 
scarcely  realize  that  they  have  a  soul ;  who  either 
feel  not  that  they  need  salvation,  or  fancy  that  it  is  al- 
ready secured  ?  If  they  cannot  be  roused,  if  their  false 
peace  cannot  be  disturbed,  they  must  inevitably  perish  ; 
and,  humanly  speaking,  to  rouse  them  seems  impossible. 
Indeed,  what  can  rouse  those  who  sleep  in  Zion,  where 
every  thing  calls  to  activity  ?  The  thunders  of  Sinai 
have  roared  around  them  ;  the  trumpet  of  the  gospel  has 
loudly  sounded  in  their  ears  ;  Christ  has  called,  saying, 
Go,  work  to-day  in  my  vineyard  ;  a  voice  from  heaven 
has  exclaimed,  Whosoever  hath  ears  to  hear,  let  him 
hear ;  ministers  have  cried,  Awake  thou  that  sleepest, 
and  arise  from  the  dead ;  death  has  repeatedly  come 
near  and  snatched  away  one  and  another  of  their  ac- 
quaintances into  darkness ;  yet  still  they  are  at  ease. 
What  then  can  rouse  them  ?  It  is  true.  God  can  do  it ; 
for  with  him  nothing  is  impossible.  But  have  we  any 
reason  to  hope  that  he  will  ?  We  may  indeed  hope,  but 
our  hopes  must  be  faint ;  for  he  has  denounced  many 
most  awful  threatenings  against  such  characters ;  he 
threatens  to  give  them  up  to  their  own  hearts  lusts,  to 
pour  on  them  a  spirit  of  slumber  and  of  deep  sleep ;  and 
it  does  not  seem  probable  that  he  who  denounces  such 
threatenings,  he  who  says,  Woe  to  them  that  are  at  ease 
in  Zion,  will  come  to  rouse  them,  till  their  false  peace, 


DESCRIBED  AND  DOOMED. 


109 


and  vain  confidence  shall  be  forever  destroyed  by  the 
terrors  of  the  last  day.  Then,  we  are  told,  sinners  in 
Zion  shall  be  afraid,  and  fearfulness  will  surprise  the 
hypocrites  in  heart.  Then  they  will  begin  to  cry  to  the 
mountains,  Fall  on  us ;  and  to  the  hills,  Cover  us.  Then 
the  foolish  virgins,  the  false  and  slumbering  professors 
of  Christianity,  will  awake  and  cry  in  despair,  Our  lamps 
are  gone  out. 

But  however  desperate  the  situation  of  such  may  ap- 
pear, it  is  the  duty  of  Christ's  ministers  to  despair  of 
none,  so  long  as  life  remains.  I  must,  therefore,  im- 
prove the  subject,  by  making  one  more  attempt  to  rouse 
those  among  us,  who  are  at  ease  in  Zion.  In  making 
this  attempt,  1  do  not  draw  the  bow  at  a  venture.  I  do 
not  speak  feeling  uncertain  whether  any  of  the  charac- 
ters whom  I  address  are  present.  No,  it  is  but  too  plain, 
that  many,  very  many  of  you  are  at  ease  in  Zion.  Some 
such  may  be  found  probably  in  almost  every  pew. 
This  house  has  become,  with  respect  to  many,  like 
a  great  dormitory,  where  immortal  souls  are  slum- 
bering away  their  day  of  grace,  and  dreaming  of  peace, 
when  their  is  no  peace.  From  how  few  among  you  Is 
the  cry  heard,  What  must  I  do  to  be  saved  ?  How  few 
are  seen  flying  from  the  wrath  to  come.  How  many 
luke-warm  professors  does  the  eye  of  Christ  discover, 
who,  though  they  have  a  name  to  live;-  are  in  reality 
dead.  How  few  are  the  mourners  in  Zion.  How  few 
can  say,  Rivers  of  tears  run  down  mine  eyes,  because 
men  keep  not  God's  law.  How  many  of  you  never 
wept  one  hour  in  secret  over  your  sins,  or  lost  one  hour's 
sleep  in  consequence  of  anxious  concern  for  your  salva- 
tion. Even  whole  families  may  yet  be  found  among  us, 
from  which  no  prayer,  no  cry  for  mercy  ascends  to  heav- 
en. These,  my  friends,  are  awful  symptoms.  They 
indicate  but  too  plainly  a  dreadful  prevalence  of  spiritual 
insensibility  among  us.  Like  the  inhabitants  of  the  old 
world,  you  are  eating  and  drinking,  and  planting  and 
building,  and  marrying  and  giving  in  marriage,  while 
death,  like  the  flood,  is  constantly  approaching  and 
10 


ito 


SINNERS  IN  ZION 


threatening  to  sweep  you  away,  with  resistless  violence 
to  the  judgment  seat.    God  hearkens  and  hears,  but 
you  speak  not  aright.    Almost  no  one  repents  of  his 
wickedness,  saying,  What  have  I  done  ?    This  insensi- 
bility must  be  removed,  this  fatal  peace  destroyed.  In 
God's  name,  then,  I  must  sound  an  alarm.    In  his  name, 
and  as  his  watchman, — who  must  answer  for  your  souls, 
if  they  perish  through  my  neglect,- — I  set  the  war-trumpet 
of  Jehovah  to  my  lips,  and  cry,  Woe,  woe,  woe,  to  you 
that  are  at  ease  in  Zion  !    Thus  saith  Jehovah,  the 
great,  the  mighty,  the  terrible  God,  tremble  ye  that  are 
at  ease ;  rise  up  and  be  troubled,  ye  careless  ones,  and 
listen  to  my  voice  ;  for  while  ye  say  peace  and  safety, 
sudden  destruction  cometh  upon  you,  and  ye  shall  not 
escape.    Your  peace  is  delusive  ;  your  ease  is  full  of 
danger ;  it  is  the  stagnant  calm  which  precedes  the  hur- 
ricane and  the  earthquake  ;  it  is  the  ease  which  the  dis- 
eased patient  feels  when  raging  inflammation  terminates 
in  gangrene  :  the  symptom,  the  immediate  forerunner  of 
death.    No  farther  evidence  of  your  guilt  and  danger  is 
requisite  ;  nothing  more  is  necessary  to  secure  your  con- 
demnation, than  the  very  ease  which  you  feel,  and  the 
false  confidence  which  confirms  it.    It  is  your  not  fear- 
ing the  woe,  which  brings  the  woe  upon  you.    It  is  your 
very  insensibility  to  your  danger,  which  proves  your 
danger  to  be  great ;  it  is  your  unconcern  for  your  sins, 
which  proves  that  they  have  never  been  pardoned.  I 
ask  not,  then,  whether  you  are  guilty  of  great  and  noto- 
rious offences  ;  I  ask  not,  whether  you  are  unbelievers, 
or  impenitent,  or  apostates;  I  only  ask,  whether  you  are 
at  ease  in  Zion  ?    If  you  are,  1,  and  yet  not  I,  but  Je- 
hovah says,  Woe,  woe  unto  you  !    Nor  is  it  every  de- 
gree of  concern,  every  slight  momentary  disturbance, 
every  serious  thought  or  check  of  conscience,  which 
will  prove  that  you  are  not  exposed  to  this  woe.    No,  it 
is  your  habitual  feelings  and  state  of  mind,  which  decides 
your  character ;  and  if  you  are  habitually  at  ease  5  if 
you  are  not  working  out  your  salvation,  the  woe  still  lies 
upon  you.    And  remember,  the  longer  it  remains  upon 


DESCRIBED  AND  DOOMED. 


Ill 


you,  the  more  heavy  and  terrible  does  it  become  ;  for 
he  who  is  not  led  to  repentance  by  a  consideration  of  the 
goodness  and  long-suffering  of  God,  is  treasuring  up 
wrath  against  the  day  of  wrath.  Remember  too,  that 
the  longer  your  false  peace  continues,  so  much  the  more 
improbable  it  is,  that  it  will  be  effectually  disturbed,  till 
it  is  forever  too  late  ;  for  with  respect  to  those  who  have 
long  been  at  ease  in  Zion,  God's  commission  to  his  min- 
isters is,  Go  and  say  to  this  people,  hear  ye  indeed,  but 
understand  not,  and  see  ye  indeed,  but  perceive  not. 
Make  the  heart  of  this  people  gross,  and  make  their 
ears  heavy,  and  shut  their  eyes,  lest  they  should  hear 
with  their  ears,  and  see  with  their  eyes,  and  understand 
with  their  hearts,  and  be  converted,  and  I  should  heal 
them.  The  Lord  called  to  weeping,  and  mourning, 
and  girding  with  sackcloth,  and  behold  joy  and  gladness, 
eating  flesh  and  drinking  wine ;  and  it  was  revealed  in 
mine  ears  by  the  Lord  of  Hosts,  Surely  this  iniquity 
shall  not  be  purged  from  you  till  ye  die,  saith  the  Lord 
of  Hosts. 

And  what  will  the  end  of  these  things  be  ?  Because 
I  have  called  and  ye  refused,  I  have  stretched  out  my 
hand  and  no  man  regarded  ;  but  ye  set  at  nought  my 
counsel  and  would  none  of  my  reproof ;  I  also  will 
laugh  at  your  calamity  and  mock  when  your  fear  cometh. 
My  careless  hearers,  your  ease  must  be  disturbed,  and 
come  to  an  end.  Yes,  O  yes,  your  fear  will  come  as 
desolation,  your  destruction  will  come  as  a  whirlwind ; 
distress  and  anguish  will  come  upon  you  ;  for  the  day  of 
the  Lord  shall  so  come  as  a  thief  in  the  night,  in  which 
the  heavens  being  on  fire,  shall  be  dissolved  and  pass 
away  with  a  great  noise,  and  the  elements  shall  melt  with 
fervent  heat  ;  and  the  earth  with  the  works  thereof  shall 
be  burnt  up  ;  for  the  mouth  of  the  Lord  hath  spoken  it. 
And  he  is  not  man,  that  he  should  lie,  nor  the  son  of 
man  that  he  should  repent.  O,  then,  since  your  peace 
must  be  finally  disturbed,  is  it  not  better,  that  it  should 
be  disturbed  now,  when  true  peace  with  God  may  be 
obtained,  rather  than  hereafter,  when  it  will  avail  noth- 


112  SINNERS  IN  ZION,  &C. 

ing  ?  Will  you  still  cherish  a  serpent  which  is  stinging 
you  to  the  heart  ?  Will  you  remain  at  ease,  while  your 
sins  are  unpardoned,  while  your  souls  lie  in  ruin,  while 
Gad  is  daily  angry,  while  the  wrath  to  come  is  rushing 
on  1 


k 


SERMON  VIII. 

A  Class  of  Sinners  excluded  from  Mercy. 


ISAIAH  XXVII.  11. 

IT  IS  A  PEOPLE  OF  NO  UNDERSTANDING  ;  THEREFORE  HE  THAT 
MADE  THEM  "WILL  NOT  HAVE  MERCY  ON  THEM,  AND  HE  THAT 
FORMED  THEM  WILL  SHEW  THEM  NO  FAVOR. 

My  hearers,  there  is  no  error  or  mistake  into  which 
the  wayward  mind  of  man  can  fall,  against  which  a 
warning  or  caution  is  not  given  us  in  the  Bible.  The 
passage  which  has  just  been  read,  is  admirably  adapt- 
ed, if  it  was  not  expressly  designed,  to  guard  men  against 
an  error,  which,  though  not  often  openly  avowed,  pre- 
vails, I  suspect,  very  extensively.  The  error  to  which 
I  allude  is  this  :  When  sinners  hear  of  |he  dangers  to 
which  they  are  exposed,  and  of  the  miseries  which  will 
be  their  portion  hereafter,  unless  they  repent,  they  often 
say  in  their  hearts,  we  are  God's  creatures  5  he  has 
brought  us  into  existence  without  our  consent ;  he  is 
therefore  bound  injustice  to  take  care  of  us,  and  to  pre- 
vent our  existence  from  becoming  a  curse.  And  even 
if  he  is  not  bound  in  justice  to  do  this,  yet  he  is  merci- 
ful \  and  he  will  surely  shew  mercy  to  his  own  crea- 
tures ;  he  will  not  forsake  forever  the  work  of  his  own 
hands.  We  cannot  therefore  believe  that  he  will  make 
any  of  us  miserable  forever.  We  cannot  doubt  that,  in 
some  way  or  other,  he  will  secure  the  final  salvation,  if 
not  of  all  men,  yet  of  all  who  are  not  more  criminal 
than  we  have  been.  He  will  either  save  us  without 
10* 


ii4 


A  CLASS  OF  SINNERS 


conversion,  or,  if  conversion  be  necessary,  he  will  cause 
us  to  be  converted  before  we  die.  Such  thoughts  are, 
doubtless,  entertained  by  hundreds  and  thousands'  who 
never  avow  them  ;  and  they  serve  to  harden  those  by 
whom  they  are  entertained  in  a  false  and  fatal  security, 
which  scarcely  any  thing  can  disturb.  Now  it  seems 
as  if  our  text  was  uttered  on  purpose  to  sweep  away  all 
such  thoughts,  and  to  disturb  the  false  peace  which  they 
produce.  In  this  passage  God  adverts  directly  to  the 
iact,  that  he  is  the  Former,  the  Creator  of  those  whom 
he,  notwithstanding,  threatens  to  destroy.  He  says,  re- 
specting, at  least  one  class  of  sinners,  He  that  made 
them  will  not  have  mercy  on  them,  and  he  that  formed 
them  will  shew  them  no  favor.  As  if  he  had  said, 
Though  I  am  their  Creator,  and  they  are  my  creatures, 
though  I  am  the  Former  of  their  bodies  and  the  Father 
of  their  spirits  ;  yet  I  will  execute  upon  them  all  my 
threa-tenings,  I  will  deal  with  them  according  to  the  rules 
of  strict  justice,  and  treat  them  as  if  there  were  no  mercy 
in  my  nature.  Let  them  not  therefore  hope  to  escape, 
because  their  Maker  is  their  judge.  Let  them  expect 
no  more  favor,  than  if  they  were  to  be  judged  by  a 
stranger. 

My  hearers,  if  there  are  any  among  you  who  do  not 
regarji  the  threatenings  of  Jehovah  as  idle  words,  they 
will  doubtless  wish  to  know  of  what  characters  he  speaks, 
what  class  of  sinners  he  threatens  to  treat  in  this  man- 
ner. They  are  clearly,  though  briefly  described  in  our 
text.    In  discoursing  upon  it,  I  shall  endeavor, 

I.  To  illustrate  this  description  : 

II.  To  shew  the  terribleness  of  the  threatening  here 
denounced  ;  and, 

III.  To  prove  that  it  is  just. 

I.  The  characters  here  mentioned  are  described  as 
persons  of  no  understanding.  But  what  is  here  meant 
by  understanding ?  Certainly  not  what  we  commonly 
mean  by  that  term.  Certainly  not  reason,  or  intellectu- 
al abilities.  No  one  can  suppose  that  the  persons  here 
censured  and  threatened  were  idiots  or  madmen.  Had 


EXCLUDED  FROM  MERCY.        i  115 


this  been  their  character,  they  would  have  been  inca- 
pable of  sin,  and  consequently  undeserving  of  punish- 
ment. The  word,  understanding,  is  obviously  used  in 
this  passage,  as  in  very  many  others,  to  signify  spiritual 
understanding,  or  a  knowledge  of  religious  truth.  Thus 
we  are  told  in  one  passage,  that  to  depart  from  evil  is 
understanding  ;  in  another,  that  the  knowledge  of  God 
is  understanding ;  in  a  third,  that  a  good  understanding 
have  all  they  that  keep  his  commandments ;  and  in  a 
fourth,  that  Christ's  words  are  ail  plain  to  him  that  un- 
derstandeth.  Of  course,  to  refuse  to  depart  from  evil, 
to  be  ignorant  of  God,  and  to  disobey  his  commands, 
and  to  find  Christ's  words  unintelligible,  are  proofs  that, 
in  the  sense  of  the  text,  men  are  without  understanding. 
In  another  passage  we  are  told,  that  he  who  followeth 
vain  persons,  that  is,  he  who  imitates  sinners,  and  walks 
in  their  ways,  is  void  of  understanding.  Our  Saviour 
intimates  that,  to  be  ignorant  of  the  defiling  power  of 
sin,  and  of  the  sinfulness  of  our  hearts,  is  also  a  proof 
that  we  possess  this  character.  And  in  another  place 
he  intimates,  with  equal  clearness,  that  unbelief,  or  the 
absence  of  faith  in  him,  is  a  proof  that  men  are  without 
understanding.  In  fine,  we  are  told  in  general  terms, 
that  wicked  men  understand  not  judgment,  but  they  who 
fear  the  Lord  understand  all  things  ;  and  that  the  fear 
of  the  Lord  is  the  beginning  of  wisdom.  It  is  evident, 
then,  that  a  man  may  possess  great  intellectual  abilities, 
may  be  wise  with  respect  to  this  world,  may  have  ac- 
quired much  knowledge  of  subjects  not  immediately 
connected  with  religion,,  and  yet  be  without  understand- 
ing in  the  sense  of  our  text.  They  are  so.  The  Lord 
looked  down  from  heaven  upon  the  children  of  men,  to 
see  if  there  were  any  that  did  understand.  And  what 
was  the  result  of  his  examination  ?  They  are  all  gone 
out  of  the  way,  there  is  none  that  understandeth,  no  not 
one.  We  are  also  assured  that  madness  is  in  the  hearts 
of  the  children  of  men ;  and  the  prodigal  son,  whom 
all  men  naturally  resemble,,  is  represented  as  having 
been  beside  himself,  till  he  resolved  to  return  to  his  fa- 


116 


A  CLASS  OF  SINNERS 


ther.  But  some  may  ask,  if  all  men  are  naturally  with- 
out spiritual  understanding,,  and  if,  as  the  text  asserts, 
God  will  not  have  mercy  on  such  as  sustain  this  charac- 
ter, will  it  not  follow  that  he  can  have  merey  on  none ; 
that  all  must  perish  ?  I  answer,  it  must  be  recollected, 
that  the  persons  referred  to  in  the  text  were  God's  an- 
cient people  ;  that  they  had  been  favored  with  religious 
instruction  ;  that  they  had  been  clearly  and  repeatedly 
taught  their  duty,  urged  to  perform  it,  and  warned  of  the 
consequences  of  neglecting  its  performance.  Of  course, 
they  had  enjoyed  many  most  favorable  opportunities  of 
acquiring  spiritual  understanding,  of  becoming  wise  unto 
salvation.  They  had  the  word  of  God  in  their  hands ; 
they  had  religious  teachers  to  explain  it  and  press  upon 
them  a  compliance  with  its  contents;  and  they  had 
been  the  subjects  of  many  providential  dispensations, 
both  merciful  and  afflictive,  which  were  designed  and 
well  adapted  to  lead  them  to  reflection.  It  was  not  till 
all  these  means  of  instruction  had  been  long  employed 
in  vain  ;  it  was  not  till  after  repeated  calls  and  warnings 
that  the  awful  declaration  in  our  text  was  made  respect- 
ing them.  It  follows,  that,  though  all  men  are  naturally 
without  spiritual  understanding,  this  declaration  does  not 
refer  to  all.  It  refers  to  those  only  who,  like  the  Jews, 
have  long  enjoyed,  but  have  abused  or  neglected  means 
of  grace  and  opportunities  of  acquiring  religious  know- 
ledge. Of  such  and  such  only  God  here  says,  He  that 
made  them  will  not  have  mercy  on  them,  and  he  that 
formed  them  will  shew  them  no  favor.  Let  us  consider, 

II.    The  terribleness  of  this  threatening. 

There  is  something  terrible  in  in  its  very  sound.  To 
hear  the  eternal,  omnipotent  Creator  say  respecting  sin- 
ful, guilty,  dependent  creatures,  I  will  show  them  no 
mercy,  no  favor,  is  enough  to  make  the  ears  of  every 
one  that  heareth  to  tingle.  But  terrible  as  is  the  sound 
of  these  words,  their  meaning  is  much  more  so.  It  in- 
cludes every  thing  dreadful,  every  thing  which  man  has 
reason  to  deprecate.  It  implies,  as  has  already  been 
observedj  that  God  will  deal  with  them  according  to  the 


EXCLUDED  FROM  MERCY. 


117 


rules  of  strict  justice ;  that  he  will  treat  them  as  they 
deserve  ;  and  as  sinners  deserve  nothing,  he  will  grant 
them  nothing.  But  more  particularly,  this  threatening 
implies, 

1.  That  God  will  either  deny  them  the  common  bless- 
ings of  his  providence,  or  grant  them  those  blessings  in 
anger,  and  send  a  curse  with  them.  His  language  to 
such  characters  is,  If  ye  will  not  lay  it  to  heart,  to  give 
glory  to  my  name,  I  will  send  a  curse  upon  you,  and  I 
will  curse  your  blessings.  Yea,  I  have  curoed  them 
already,  because  ye  laid  it  not  to  heart.  The  curse  of 
the  Lord  is  in  the  house  of  the  wicked.  Cursed  shall 
thou  be  in  thy  basket  and  store  ;  cursed  sbalt  thou  be  in 
thy  children  ;  cursed  when  thou  goest  out,  and  when 
thou  comest  in. 

My  hearers,  it  is  a  terrible  thing  to  have  the  common 
blessings  of  providence  given  to  us  in  anger,  with  a  curse  ; 
for  they  will,  in  this  case,  be  of  no  service  to  us  ;  and 
we  shall  be  called  to  render  a  strict  account  of  them 
another  day.  Scarcely  any  thing  can  be  more  dread- 
ful than  to  have  talents,  or  knowledge,  or  wealth,  or  in- 
fluence bestowed  on  us,  without  a  heart  to  improve 
them  ;  for  they  will  terribly  aggravate  our  final  condem- 
nation. A  sinner,  poor,  ignorant,  and  without  influence, 
is  much  less  to  be  pitied,  than  one  who  possesses  wealth, 
learning,  or  power  ;  for  he  will  have  much  less  to  ans- 
wer for  in  the  great  day  of  account.  The  threatening 
implies, 

2.  That  God  will  either  deprive  sinners  of  their  reli- 
gious privileges,  means,  and  opportunities,  or  withhold 
his  blessing,  and  thus  render  them  useless.  Thus  he 
dealt  with  the  Jews.  He  still  sent  them  messengers, 
and  instructions,  and  warnings  ;  but  did  not  send  a  bless- 
ing with  them.  Of  course,  they  were  entirely  ineffectu- 
al, and  answered  no  other  purpose  than  to  harden  them 
in  sin,  and  increase  their  condemnation.  He  said  to 
them,  Hear  ye,  indeed,  but  understand  not,  and  see  ye 
indeed,  but  perceive  not.  And  he  said  this,  because 
they  had  long  refused  to  perceive  and  understand.  In 


A  CLASS  OF  SINNERS 


a  similar  manner  he  often  treats  similar  characters  at  the 
present  day.  He  still  permits  them  to  have  the  Bihle  in 
their  hands,  to  hear  the  gospel,  to  enjoy  the  day  and 
means  of  grace  ;  but  he  permits  this,  not  in  mercy,  but 
in  anger  ;  he  withholds  his  blessing  from  these  means, 
and  in  consequence  they  prove  a  savor  of  death  unto 
death  to  those  who  possess  them.  This  also  is  a  most 
terrible  evil.  On  this  side  of  everlasting  burnings,  there 
can  scarcely  be  a  greater.  Much  less  terrible  would  it 
be,  to  lose,  at  once,  and  forever,  religious  privileges, 
means  and  opportunities,  than  to  have  them  continued 
to  us  as  a  curse.    This  threatening  implies, 

3.  That  God  will  withhold  from  such  characters  the 
awakening,  enlightening,  and  sanctifying  influences  of 
his  Spirit.  These  influences  are  especially  called  his 
grace  or  favor.  Of  course,  he  will  withhold  them  from 
those  to  whom  no  favor  is  shown.  And  those  from 
whom  he  withholds  them,  will  remain  forever  without 
understanding,  without  knowledge,  without  religion  ;  and 
will,  of  course,  perish  in  their  sins.  This  is  the  evil 
which  David  deprecated  so  earnestly.  O,  take  not  thy 
Holy  Spirit  from  me.  This  God  himself  represents  as 
a  most  terrible  evil.  Woe  unto  them,  he  says,  when  I 
forsake  them.  Woe,  indeed  !  for,  my  hearers,  a  sin- 
ner had  much  better  be  in  the  regions  of  despair,  than  in 
this  world,  after  the  Spirit  of  God  has  finally  forsaken 
him ;  because  he  will  do  nothing  but  treasure  up  wrath 
against  the  day  of  wrath ;  and  the  longer  he  lives,  the 
more  wrath  will  he  accumulate.  This  threatening  far- 
ther implies, 

Lastly,  that  at  the  Judgment  day  God  will  condemn 
such  characters  to  depart  accursed  into  everlasting  fire, 
and  that  he  will  grant  them  no  mitigation  of  their  mise- 
ries through  eternity.  There  is  no  medium  between 
mercy  and  condemn?tion.  Those,  therefore,  on  whom 
God  has  no  mercy  he  must  condemn.  To  shorten  or 
mitigate  their  sufferings,  would  be  a  favor.  But  if  he 
shows  them  no  favor  their  sufferings  can  neither  be 
shortened  nor  mitigated.    To  use  the  awful  language  of 


EXCLUDED  FROM  MERCY. 


119 


inspiration,— they  must  drink  forever  and  ever  of  the 
fierceness  of  the  wrath  of  Almighty  God,  which  is  poured 
out  without  mixture  into  the  cup  of  his  indignation. 

And  now,  my  hearers,  put  together  all  that  has  been 
said  of  the  import  of  this  threatening,  and  say,  whether 
it  is  more  than  the  words  fairly  and  necessarily  imply. 
Say,  too,  whether  any  threatening  can  be  more  terrible  5 
whether  any  combination  of  words  can  be  more  deeply 
fraught  with  horror  and  despair  than  these,  He  that 
that  made  them  will  not  have  mercy  on  them,  and  he 
that  formed  them  will  shew  them  no  favor.    Alas,  if  he 
who  made  them,  has  no  mercy  on  them,  who  will,  who 
can  ?    And  what  can  be  more  deplorable  than  the  sit- 
uation of  a  sinner  against  whom  this  threatening  is  gone 
out !    But  is  this  terrible  threatening  just  ?    Can  the 
sin  of  which  these  characters  are  guilty  deserve  such  a 
doom  as  this  ?    This  leads  us  to  shew,  as  was  proposed, 
III.    That  it  is  perfectly  just.    It  is  so, 
1 .  Because  the  persons  against  whom  this  threaten- 
ing is  denounced  never  ask  for  mercy,  never  seek  the 
favor  of  God.    This  is  evident  from  their  character. 
Being  ignorant  of  God,  of  the  sinfulness  of  their  own 
hearts,  and  of  the  defiling  power  of  sin,  they  feel  not 
their  need  of  mercy  to  pardon  them,  of  grace  to  sanc- 
tify them,  of  God's  favor  to  make  them  happy.  Of 
course,  they  never  ask  or  seek  for  these  blessings.  Not 
one  among  them  ever  said  from  his  heart,  God  be  mer- 
ciful to  me  a  sinner.    And  why  should  he  give  them 
what  they  never  ask  for  5  what  they  do  not  regard  as 
wTorth  seeking  ?    We  might  as  well  say,  that  it  is  unjust 
for  him  not  to  give  wealth  to  an  indolent  man,  or  learn- 
ing to  one  who  neglects  study,  as  accuse  him  of  injus- 
tice because  he  does  not  shew  mercy  to  those  who  never 
seek  it.    If  he  shews  them  no  favor,  he  shews  them  as 
much  as  they  ask  for,  as  much  as  they  deserve.  He 
had  said  to  them,  If  ihou  cry  after  knowledge,  and  lift 
up  thy  voice  for  understanding  ;  if  thou  seek  for  it  as  for 
silver  and  search  for  it  as  for  hid  treasures  ;  thou  shalt 
then  understand  the  fear  of  the  Lord,  and  find  the 


mo 


A  CLASS  OF  SINNERS 


knowledge  of  God.  But  they  did  not  think  the  bless- 
ing worth  all  this  trouble.  They  did  not  choose  to  have 
it  on  these  reasonable  terms.  They  chose  rather  to 
remain  without  understanding,  though  they  were  warned 
that,  in  consequence,  they  would  lose  iorever  the  favor 
of  God.  How  then  can  they  complain,  when  they  have 
what  they  chose  ? 

2,  The  justice  of  this  threatening  will  appear  still 
more  evident  if  we  consider,  that  these  persons  have 
long  rejected  and  abused  the  offered  mercy  and  grace 
of  God.  We  have  already  seen  that  our  text  refers,  not 
to  every  one  who  is  destitute  of  spiritual  understanding; 
but  to  those  only  who,  like  the  Jews,  have  been  long 
favored  with  the  means  of  acquiring  it ;  those  to  whom 
God  has  spoken,  whom  he  has  offered  to  teach,  whom 
he  has  tenderly  invited  and  entreated  to  accept  of  mer- 
cy, and  not  to  receive  his  grace  in  vain.  Now  such 
characters  must,  of  course,  have  often  sinned  against  the 
mercy  and  grace  of  God.  Year  after  year,  he  has  fol- 
lowed them,  snying,  Turn  ye  at  my  reproof,  and  I  will 
pour  out  my  Spirit  upon  you,  I  will  make  known  my 
words  to  )ou.  But  they  refused  to  turn.  They  set  at 
nought  all  his  counsels,  they  regarded  none  of  his  re- 
proofs. They  did  not  like  to  retain  God  in  their  know- 
ledge, and  practically  said  to  him,  Depart  from  us,  for 
we  desire  not  the  knowledge  of  thy  ways.  How  just  is 
it,  then,  that  he  should  take  them  at  their  word  ;  that  he 
should  never  shew  them  mercy,  but  give  them  up  to 
walk  in  their  own  ways,  and  be  filled  with  the  fruit  of 
their  own  devices  !  Mercy  was  offered  to  you,  it  was 
urged  upon  you ;  you  were  entreated  to  accept  it,  is  a 
reply,  which  will  forever  shut  the  mouth  of  all  who 
perish  under  the  threatening  denounced  in  the  passage. 

3.  This  threatening  is  just  because  the  characters  to 
wh  .m  it  refers,  must  be  guilty  of  many  other  aggra- 
vated offences.  They  must  have  been  destitute,  of  the 
fear  of  God  ;  for  to  fear  him  is  the  beginning  of  wisdom. 
They  must  have  refused  to  renounce  their  sins  ;  for  to 
depart  from  evil  is  understanding.    They  must  have 


EXCLUDED  FROM  MERCY.  121 

loved  darkness  rather  than  light ;  for  they  rejected  the 
latter  and  chose  the  former ;  and  the  reason  was,  their 
deeds  were  evil.  They  must  have  followed  and  imita- 
ted sinners;  for  this  all  do,  who  are  void  of  understand- 
ing. Finally,  they  must  have  disobeyed  God's  com- 
mands ;  for  all  who  obey  them  have  a  good  understand- 
ing. And  who  will  venture  to  say,  that  men  who  dis- 
obey God's  commands,  who  imitate  sinners,  whose  deeds 
are  evil,  who  love  darkness  rather  than  light,  who  re- 
fuse to  renounce  their  sins,  and  who  have  no  fear  of 
God  before  their  eyes,  deserve  that  God  should  have 
mercy  upon  them,  or  shew  them  any  favor  ?  If  such 
characters  can  deserve  mercy,  who  do  not  deserve  it  ? 
If  it  is  unjust  to  punish  such  characters,  on  whom  can 
punishment  be  justly  inflicted  !  Surely,  if  there  are 
any  on  whom  God  ought  not  to  have  mercy,  and  to 
whom  he  ought  to  show  no  favor,  they  are  such  sinners 
as  are  described  in  our  text. 

And  now,  my  hearers,  what  use  shall  we  make  of  this 
subject  ?  You  have  heard  that  there  is  a  class  of  sin« 
ners  on  whom  God  will  not  have  mercy,  and  to  whom 
he  will  shew  no  favor.  Does  it  not  then  become  us  to 
inquire,  whether  there  are  any  of  this  class  among  our- 
selves ?  Painful  as  is  the  thought,  I  cannot  but  fear  that 
there  are.  I  fear,  greatly  fear,  that  there  are  not  a  few 
in  this  assembly,  of  whom  their  Maker  has  said,  I  will 
not  have  mercy  upon  them.  I  have  two  reasons  for 
fearing  this,  and  I  will  tell  you  what  they  are.  In  the 
first  place,  it  is  but  too  certain  that  there  are  many 
among  us,  of  whom  it  may  be  said  in  the  sense  of  the 
text,  they  have  no  understanding.  The  proofs  that 
many  possess  this  character,  are  too  plain  to  be  denied 
or  overlooked.  Many  of  you,  my  hearers,  cannot  but 
know  that  you  possess  it.  Many  of  you  know  thai  you 
are  not  influenced  by  the  fear  of  God  ;  and  this  is  one 
proof  that  you  have  no  understanding.  Many  of  ye# 
know  that  you  do  not  keep  his  commandments;  this  is 
another  proof.  Many  of  you  know  that  you  have  never 
forsaken  your  sins  ;  this  is  a  third  proof.  Many  of  yoo 
11 


122 


A  CLASS  OF  SINNERS 


know  that  vou  imitate  the  conduct  of  sinners ;  this  is  a 
fourth  proof.  Many  of  you  know  that  the  words  of 
Christ,  the  doctrines  of  the  gospel,  do  not,  in  your 
view,  appear  plain  or  intelligible ;  this*  is  a  fifth  proof. 
Many  of  you  know  that  you  do  not  possess  that  spirit- 
ual knowledge  of  God  which  is  described  in  the  Scrip- 
tures 5  this  is  a  sixth  proof.  And  many  of  you  know 
that  you  do  not  see  the  sinfulness  of  your  own  hearts, 
and  the  defiling  nature  of  sin  ;  this  is  a  seventh  proof. 
These,  taken  together,  compose  the  principal  character- 
istics of  those  who,  in  the  sense  of  our  text,  have  no  un- 
derstanding. And  all  these  characteristics  are  certainly 
found  in  many  persons  now  before  me.  And  while, 
like  the  Jews,  you  possess  these  characteristics,  you 
have  like  them  long  been  favored,  in  a  high  degree,  with 
religious  privileges,  means,  and  opportunities.  I  know 
of  but  few  congregations,  even  in  this  highly  favored 
land,  that  have  enjoyed  the  means  of  grace,  and  of  ac- 
quiring religious  knowledge  more  amply  than  you  have. 
You  have  had  the  Bible  in  your  hands  from  your  child- 
hood. Its  contents  have  been  explained  and  urged  up- 
on you,  sabbath  after  sabbath,  and  year  after  year.  It 
has  been  the  great  aim  of  your  minister  to  preach  the 
gospel  to  you,  in  as  plain  and  intelligible  a  manner  as  pos- 
sible, and  to  Jiold  up  before  every  man  his  own  charac- 
ter and  situation  in  such  a  light  that  he  could  not,  unless 
wilfully  blind,  avoid  seeing  it.  He  has  endeavored  to 
present  the  truth  to  your  minds,  and  consciences,  and 
hearts,  in  every  way  which  he  thought  calculated  to 
awaken,  convince,  alarm,  and  melt  you.  You  have 
'  also,  in  repeated  instances,  been  addressed  by  some  of 
the  most  able,  faithful,  and  impressive  ministers  in  New 
England.  You  have  had  opportunities  of  hearing  the 
gospel  not  only  in  season,  but  out  of  season  ;  not  only 
on  the  sabbath  but  on  other  days  ;  not  only  in  the  house 
of  God,  but  in  your  own  houses.  Meetings  for  religious 
inquiry  have  been  established  ;  you  have  been  invited 
to  attend  them  ;  and  those  who  felt  unwilling  to  attend 
them  have  been  often  requested  to  visit  their  pastor  at 


EXCLUDED  FROM  MERCY. 


123 


his  own  house,  and  converse  with  him  in  private.  In 
short,  the  whole  apparatus  of  religious  means  has  been 
employed  to  make  you  wise  unto  salvation ;  and  it  is 
not  perhaps  too  much  to  say,  that  the  Jews  themselves 
who  are  referred  to  in  our  text,  were  not  warned  more 
plainly  or  frequently  than  you  have  been.  One  thing 
at  least  is  certain.  They  never  heard  of  that  Saviour, 
and  of  that  redeeming  love  which  has  been  urged  upon 
you  again  and  again.  And  yet,  as  it  respects  many  of 
you,  all  has  proved  in  vain.  Indeed,  many  of  you  have 
not  diligently  attended  on  these  means.  They  have 
indeed  attended  public  worship  on  the  Sabbath,  when 
no  real  or  fancied  difficulty  prevented ;  for  they  had 
then  nothing  else  to  do.  But  all  other  opportunities  of 
hearing  the  truth,  have,  by  not  a  few,  been  entirely  neg- 
lected. And  now,'  unless  a  change  for  the  better  should  \y 
soon  be  witnessed,  our  meetings  for  religious  inquiry, 
and  our  weekly  lecture  must  be  given  up,  because  so 
few  think  it  worth  their  while  to  attend  them.  These 
facts  prove  conclusively,  that  the  language  of  the  text 
is  no  less  applicable  to  many  of  this  assembly,  than  it 
was  to  the  Jews.  They  prove  that  there  are  many  who  d*o 
not  seek  after  knowledge,  who  do  not  think  it  worth  seek- 
ing for.  Of  course,  they  furnish  one  reason  for  fearing 
that  God  has  said  respecting  them,  he  that  made  them 
will  not  have  mercy  on  them,  and  he  that  formed  them 
will  shew  them  no  favor. 

A  second  reason  which  I  have  for  fearing  this  is,  that, 
with  respect  to  many  of  you,  God  appears  to  be  already 
executing  this  threatening.  He  does  not  indeed  take 
away  your  religious  privileges  and  means  of  grace  ;  but, 
what  is  far  more  dreadful,  he  withholds  his  blessing  from 
them.  It  is  evident,  as  facts  can  make  it,  that  he  does 
not  have  mercy  upon  you,  that  he  does  not  show  you 
favor  ;  for  he  does  not  awaken  you,  he  does  not  convince 
you  of  sin,  he  does  not  convert  you,  he  does  not  pardon 
you.  Of  course,  the  means  of  grace  do  you  no  good. 
The  language  of  God's  dealings  with  hundred*  in  thik 
assembly  is,  and  for  years  has  been,  Make  the  heart  o£ 


124 


A  CLASS  OF  SINNERS 


this  people  fat,  and  shut  their  eyes,  and  make  their  ears 
dull  of  hearing  ;  lest  they  should  hear  with  their  ears, 
and  see  with  their  eyes,  and  understand  with  their  hearts, 
and  be  converted,  and  1  should  heal  them.  And  if  he 
should  continue  to  withhold  his  grace  and  mercy  in  the 
same  way,  for  a  few  years  longer,  all  who  have  passed 
the  meridian  of  life,  and  many  who  have  not  reached  if, 
will  be  in  their  graves,  will  have  died  without  mercy,  and 
will  perish  forever  without  mercy.  And  does  not  this 
look  very  much  as  if  God  had  said  respecting  the  im- 
penitent part  of  this  assembly,  I  will  not  have  mercy  on 
them  ?  Does  it  not  look  as  if  the  decree  had  gone  forth 
against  them  ?  Does  it  not  afford  reason  to  fear  that 
Christ  has  wept  over  them,  as  he  did  over  Jerusalem, 
after  her  day  of  grace  was  ended,  saying,  O  that  thou 
hadst  known,  even  thou,  in  this  thy  day,  the  things  which 
belong  to  thy  peace ;  but  now  they  are  hidden  from 
thine  eyes  I  My  impenitent  hearers,  if  Christ  has  said 
this  of  you,  if  God  has  in  just  displeasure  determined  to 
have  no  mercy  upon  you,  your  doom  is  as  certain  as  if 
you  were  already  shut  up  in  the  prison  of  despair,  with 
an  impassable  gulph  fixed  between  you  and  heaven.  I 
do  not  assert  that  this  is  the  case.  I  do  not  say  that 
because  God  has  not  yet  shown  you  mercy,  he  never 
will  do  it.  But  I  do  say,  that  there  is  reason,  great 
reason  to  fear  that  such  is  the  fact.  And  I  do  say,  that 
if  he  has  determined  not  to  have  mercy  upon  you,  and 
to  shew  you  no  favor,  this  determination  is  perfectly 
just  ;  for  remember,  I  have  often  warned  you  to  beware 
of  grieving  God's  Holy  Spirit,  and  turning  away  his  love 
and  mercy  from  you.  Of  no  danger  have  I  warned  you 
more  frequently,  or  more  loudly  than  of  this.  I  must 
then  say,  that  if  this  danger  has  overtaken  any  of  you,  if 
the  decree  has  gone  out  against  you,  it  is  most  just. 
Were  I  certain  that  this  is  the  case,  I  should  scarcely 
think  it  worth  while  to  address  you  again  ;  but  as  it  is 
possible  that  there  are,  at  least,  some  among  you,  against 
wkon*  tho  door  of  mercy  is  not  yet  shut,  I  would  once 
more  attempt  to  rouse  them,  hoping  that  it  may  not  be 


EXCLUDED  FROM  MERCY.  125 

too  late.  If  any  yield  to  the  attempt,  it  will  prove  that, 
with  respect  to  them,  it  is  not  too  late.  O,  then,  be  per- 
suaded to  yield  to  me,  to  believe  me,  while  I  once  more 
remind  you  of  the  terribleness  of  this  threatening,  of  the 
dreadful  situation  of  those,  on  whom  God  will  have  no 
mercy  ;  and  while  in  his  name  I  once  more  say  to  you, 
Turn  ye  at  my  reproof.  I  will  pour  but  my  Spirit  upon 
you.  If  you  can  think  of  this  threatening  without  being 
alarmed;  if  you  can  hear  this  invitation  without  being 
moved,  it  will  be  one  more  convincing  proof  that  you 
are  indeed  without  understanding.  And  if  God  does 
not  in  mercy  bless  this  warning,  it  will  be  one  more  aw- 
ful proof  that  he  is  determined  to  have  no  mercy  upon 
you,  to  show  you  no  favor.  Tell  me  then,  O,  tell  me, 
I  beseech  you,  does  this  warning  affect  you  ?  With  the 
anguished  solicitude  of  a  parent  inquiring  whether  the 
means  just  employed  for  the  relief  of  an  apparently  ex- 
piring child  are  successful,  I  ask,  does  this  warning  af- 
fect you  ?  Does  the  still  small  voice  of  God  within  you 
second  the  voice  of  his  word  ?  Does  he  say,  Sinner, 
sinner  !  why  will  you  die  ?  And  is  there  any  thing  with- 
in you,  which  can  yet  hear  and  feel.  If  there  is,  bless- 
ed, O,  blessed  be  a  merciful  God,  that  he  has  not  yet  in 
just  anger  shut  up  his  tender  mercies  forever  from  you. 
Blessed  be  his  name,  that  your  consciences  are  not  yet 
seared  as  with  an  hot  iron,  that  you  are  not  yet  past  feel- 
ing, that  you  are  not  yet  given  up  to  final  hardness  of 
heart.  But  if  you  are  yet  capable  of  feeling  any  thing, 
beware,  O,  beware !;  It  may  be  the  last  time  that  the 
Spirit  of  God  will  ever  cause  the  truth  to  affect  you.  If 
you  should  lose  your  present  impressions  he  may  depart, 
never  to  return  ;  and  God  may  say,  I  will  not  have  mer- 
cy upon  you.  O,  then,  cherish  these  impressions,  as 
the  apple  of  your  eye.  Cherish  them  as  you  would 
cherish  your  own  souls.  Watch  the  spark  of  convic- 
tion within  you,  as  you  would  watch  the  dying  lamp  of 
life.  Make  it  immediately  your  great  business  to  become 
wise  unto  salvation.  Cry  after  knowledge.  Lift  up 
your  voice  for  understanding.  Seek  for  it  as  for  silver*. 
11* 


126 


A  CLASS  OF  SINNERS,  &C« 


Search  for  it  as  for  hid  treasure.  Above  ali,  depart  from 
evil,  and  turn  to  him  who  giveth  wisdom  liberally,  and 
wpbraideth  not.  Let  the  wicked  forsake  his  way,  and 
the  unrighteous  man  his  thought,  and  let  him  turn  unto 
the  Lord.  And  are  there  any  present  to  whom  these 
directions  will  not  apply,  any  who  fee!  nothing  ?  But 
why  do  I  ask  ?  If  such  there  are,  I  can  say  nothing  to 
them ;  I  can  do  nothing  for  them.  They  are  in  the 
bands  of  God,  and  he  must,  and  he  will  do  with  them, 
as  seeraeth  good  in  his  sight. 


SERMON  IX. 

Punishment  of  the  Impeniient  inevitable  and  justifiable, 


JEREMIAH  XXII.  24. 

AS  I  LIVE ,  SAITH  THE  LORD,  THOUGH  CONIAH  THE  SOW  OF  JEH02A- 
KIM  KING  OF  JUDAH  WERE  THE  SIGNET  UPON  MY  RIGHT  HAM)., 
VET  WOULD  I  PLUCK  THEE  THENCE. 

This  chapter  contains  a  message  from  God  to  the 
king  of  Judah.  The  first  part  of  this  message  is  com- 
posed of  exhortations  to  repentance,  and  promises  of 
pardon,  if  the  fruits  of  repentance  should  appear.  Then 
follow  most  awful  threatenings  :  But  if  ye  will  not  hear 
these  words,  I  swear  by  myself,  saith  the  Lord,  that  thi$LT 
house  shall  become  a  desolation.  For  thus  saith  the 
Lord  unto  the  king's  house  of  Judah,  thou  art  Gilead 
unto  me,  and  the  head  of  Lebanon.  Yet  I  will  make 
thee  a  wilderness  and  cities  not  inhabited.  Gilead,  you 
will  recollect,  was  the  most  pleasant  and  fertile  part  of 
Canaan,  and  Lebanon  was  its  highest  mountain.  So  the 
,  Jews  were  God's  chosen  people,  his  portion  and,  as  we 
are  elsewhere  told,  his  heritage,  in  the  earth,  in  whom  he 
delighted  ;  and  the  kings  of  Judah  were  the  head  of  this 
chosen  people,  and  on  many  accounts  peculiarly  dear  to 
God.  They  were  the  descendants  of  his  servant  David 
with  whom  he  had  made  a  covenant,  and  Jeconiah  the 
present  king  was  the  grandson  of  Josiah  who,  in  zeal  for 
God,  nearly  resembled  his  pious  ancestor.  Yet  God 
here  declares  that,  notwithstanding  this,  he  would  destroy 
Jeconiah  and  his  kingdom,  unless  his  judgments  were 


128  PUNISHMENT  OF  THE  IMPENITENT 


averted  by  speedy  repentance,  In  our  text  the  same 
declaration  is  repeated  in  still  more  forcible  language  : 
As  I  live,  saith  the  Lord,  though  Coniah  king  of  Judah 
were  the  signet  upon  my  right  hand,  yet  would  I  pluck 
thee  thence.  The  signet  was  a  seal  very  anciently  worn 
by  nobles  and  monarchs  upon  the  right  hand,  with  which 
they  were  accustomed  to  seal  their  grants,  legislative 
acts,  and  judicial  sentences.  Thus  we  read  in  Daniel 
that  the  king  sealed  the  stone  on  the  lion's  den  with  his 
own  seal.  For  this  reason,  as  well  as  on  account  of  its 
beauty  and  value,  it  was  highly  prized  by  the  wearer  ; 
and,  in  consequence  of  its  use  in  sealing  royal  grants  and 
edicts,  it  was  considered  as  a  symbol  of  authority. 
Hence  it  appears  that  the  declaration  in  our  text  is  ex- 
ceedingly strong.  It  is  as  if  Jehovah  said,  Were  the 
king  of  Judah  dear  to  me,  as  the  signet  upon  my  right 
hand  ;  dear  to  me  as  my  sovereign  poAver  and  authority 
over  the  universe,  I  would  cast  him  from  me  for  his  sins, 
unless  he  repents. 

That  which  immediately  follows  renders  this  passage 
still  more  interesting.  After  denouncing  upon  the  sin- 
ful king  the  most  awful  judgments,  God  adds,  O,  earth, 
earth,  earth,  hear  the  word  of  the  Lord.  As  if  he  had 
said,  Let  no  one  suppose  that  this  declaration,  confirmed 
by  my  oath,  concerns  Jeconiah  only  ;  but  let  all  the  in- 
habitants of  the  earth  hear  and  know,  that  sooner  than 
suffer  impenitent  sinners  to  go  unpunished,  I  will  give 
up  all  that  I  most  prize,  give  up  my  sovereign  power  and 
authority.  Let  them  hear  and  know  that,  however  dear 
any  of  my  creatures  may  be  to  me,  I  will  cast  them  ,  from 
me,  if  they  sin  and  do  not  repent.  I  propose,  in,  the 
present  discourse, 

I.  To  mention  some  awful  instances  in  which  God 
has  verified  this  declaration  ; 

II.  To  state  so  far  as  we  can  learn  them  from  the 
Bible,  the  reasons  which-  induce  him  to  act  in  this  man- 
ner. 

The  first  instance  which  I  shall  mention,  in  which  God 
has  verified  this  declaration,  is  that  of  the  apostate  an- 


INEVITABLE  AND  JUSTIFIABLE.  129 

gels.  These  now  fallen  spirits  were  originally  the  most 
exalted  of  God's  creatures,  the  noblest  image  of  their 
Creator  which  his  power  ever  stamped  on  the  work  of 
his  hands.  Like  him  they  were  perfectly  holy  ;  they 
loved  him  with  perfect  love,  delighted  in  obeying  his 
will,  and  for,  we  know  not  how  long,  a  period,  perhaps 
for  thousands  of  ages,  were  employed  in  performing  it. 
In  a  word,  they  were  the  immediate  attendants  on  his 
throne,  the  inhabitants  of  that  heaven  which  is  the  hab- 
itation of  his  holiness  and  glory.  Hence  if  any  creatures 
can  be  dear  to  God,  and  objects  of  his  love,  they  were 
so.  But  they  sinned,  and  what  was  the  consequence  ? 
Let  inspiration  answer.  God  spared  not  the  angels  who 
sinned,  but  cast  them  down  to  hell,  and  reserves  them 
under  chains  of  darkness  to  the  judgment  of  the  great 
great  day.  And  our  Saviour  teaches  us,  that  hell  itself 
and  its  torments  were  prepared  for  the  devil  and  his  an- 
gels. My  hearers*  look  a  moment  attentively,  and  with- 
out prejudice,  upon  the  awful  display  of  God's  justice 
and  holy  displeasure  against  sin.  See  how  high  these 
exalted  intelligences  once  stood,  how  low  they  are  fallen, 
how  irremediable  is  their  destruction.  This  one  fact  is 
worth  ten  thousand  of  those  vain  sophistical  arguments 
with  which  sinners  attempt  to  persuade  themselves  that 
God  will  not  destroy  them,  though  they  persist  in  sin. 
Here  are  no  human  conjectures  or  human  reasonings? 
but  plain  matter  of  fact. 

And  O,  how  awful,  how  alarming  is  the  fact !  What  a 
death  blow  does  it  give  to  all  the  presumptuous  hopes  of 
impenitent  sinners  !  How  does  it  trample  on  all  their 
vain  reasonings  !  My  hearers,  were  an  angel  from  heav- 
en to  assure  me  that  God  is  too  merciful  to  cast  any  of 
his  creatures  into  hell,  I  could  not  believe  him,  while 
the  fact  stands  recorded  in  the  Bible.  Indeed,  how 
could  I,  how  can  any  man  believe  that  God  will  not  do 
what  he  has  actually  done  ?  If  with  the  fact  staring  him 
in  the  face,  any  impenitent  sinner  can  hope  that  God  will 
not  destroy  him,  I  would  say  to  that  sinner,  are  you  of 
more  consequence,  or  more  dear  to  God,  than  were  the 


130 


PUNISHMENT  OF  THE  IMPENITENT 


angels  of  his  presence  ?  If  not,  why  should  he  treat  you 
more  favorably,  than  he  has  treated  them  ?  You  have 
transgressed  the  same  law  which  they  violated.  The 
sentence  which  has  been  executed  on  them  is  already 
pronounced  on  you.  How  then  can  you  hope  that  the 
same  God  who  spared  not  them,  will  spare  you  ?  "Let 
me  prevail  upon  you  to  dismiss  all  such  hopes  at  once; 
for  as  the  Lord  liveth,  though  you  were  the  signet  on 
his  right  hand  ;  though  you  were  dear  to  him  as  the  an- 
gels of  his  presence,  he  would  not  save  you,  if  you  con- 
tinue in  sin.  It  is  a  much  greater  thing  to  cast  down  sin- 
ning angels  from  heaven  to  hell,  than  to  cast  sinful  man 
out  of  the  lower  world  into  hell;  and  since  God  has 
done  the  greater,  be  assured  he  will  not  fail  to  do  the 
less. 

Another  instance,  in  which  God  has  verified  the  de- 
claration in  our  text,  is  afforded  by  our  first  parents. 
That  God  loved  them,  there  can  be  no  doubt.  That 
their  happiness  was  dear  to  him,  what  he  did  to  promote 
it,  abundantly  proves.  He  made  them  but  little  lower 
than  the  angels,  stamped  upon  them  his  own  image 
crowned  them  with  glory  and  honor,  gave  them  a  world 
with  all  that  it  contained  ;  and  as  if  this  were  not  suffi- 
cient, planted  for  them  a  garden  in  that  world,  resemb- 
ling heaven  as  nearly  as  any  thing  earthly  can  do  it. 
Yet  in  the  very  day  in  which  they  first  sinned,  he  pro- 
nounced on  them  sentence  of  death,  banished  them  from 
paradise,  and  cursed  the  earth  for  their  sake,  to  shew 
his  abhorrence  of  their  sin.  And  can  any  of  their  de- 
scendants be  more  dear  to  him  than  they  were  ?  Can 
any  of  them  hope  to  escape  the  curse  which  fell  on  the 
first  sinful  pair  ?  Surely  not.  Know,  sinful  child  of 
Adam,  that,  were  you  dear  to  God  as  were  your  first 
parents,  he  would  not  spare  you  in  sin. 

A  third  instance  of  a  similar  nature  may  be  seen  in  the 
destruction  of  mankind  by  the  flood.  We  have  often 
read  and  heard  of  this  event ;  but  our  conceptions  of  it 
are  probably  exceedingly  inadequate.  Indeed,  they 
roust  he  so ;  for  who  that  has  not  witnessed  such  an 


INEVITABLE  AND   JUSTIFIABLE*  131 

event,  can  adequately  conceive  of  it  ?  We  have  good 
reason,  let  it  be  remembered,  to  believe,  that  the  world 
was  at  least  as  populous  then  as_  it  is  now.  Let  your 
thoughts  then  run  through  the  world  ;  collect  in  imagi- 
nation the  many  millions  of  its  inhabitants  into  one  vast 
assembly.  See  in  this  assembly  all  that  is  lovely  in 
youth  and  beauty,  all  that  is  magnificent  in  rank  and 
power,  all  that  is  admirable  in  intellect,  all  that  is  vene- 
rable in  gray  hairs.  See  the  eternal  Sovereign  of  the 
universe  contemplating  this  vast  assembly.  He  doubt- 
less loves  them  ;  for  they  are  the  work  of  his  own  hands, 
and  he  hates  nothing  which  he  has  made.  Their  hap- 
piness is  doubtless  dear  to  him,  dear  as  the  signet  on 
his  right  hand  ;  for  we  are  assured,  in  language  suited  to 
our  capacities,  that  it  grieved  him  at  the  heart,  when  he 
saw  them  pursuing  the  road  to  misery.  But  though  his 
love  and  mercy  plead  for  them,  their  sins  and  his  jus- 
tice call  for  their  destruction.  Yet  how  much  was  there 
in  such  an  assembly  to  move  his  pity ;  to  forbid  him  to 
listen  to  the  claims  of  strict  justice.  Surely,  if  he  will 
ever  relent,  when  the  guilty  stand  before  him,  he  would 
have  relented  then,  when  he  saw  how  numerous  were 
the  victims  which  justice  demanded.  But  he  did  not 
relent.  He  waited  indeed  120  years,  to  give  them  an 
opportunity  for  repentance  ;  and  he  sent  Noah  as  a 
preacher  of  righteousness  to  warn  them  ottheir  approach- 
ing fate  ;  but  he  did  not  relent.  No  ;  the  windows  of 
heaven  were  opened  to  rain  down  destruction  on  the 
impenitent ;  and  the  fountains  of  the  great  deep  were 
broken  up,  to  whelm  the  guilty  race  in  one  common 
grave.  And  can  you  then  hope,  impenitent  sinner,  to 
escape  the  justice  of  a  God  who  could  do,  who  has 
done  this  ?  Can  you  hope  that  he,  who  did  not  relent 
when  he  saw  a  world  ready  to  sink  under  the  sword  of 
justice,  will  relent  when  he  sees  you  stand  before  his 
bar  ?  No  ;  were  you  the  signet  upon  his  right  hand, 
could  you  unite  in  yourself  all  the  beauty,  the  strength, 
the  intellect,  and  the  life,  which  now  fills  the  world,  he 


132  PUNISHMENT  OF  THE  IMPENITENT 


would  not  hesitate,  for  a  moment  to  doom  you  to  de- 
struction. 

A  fourth  instance,  similar  in  kind,  though  not  equally 
awful,  is  presented  to  us  in  the  history  of  God's  ancient 
people,  the  children  of  Abraham  his  friend.    How  great- 
ly he  loved  them,  how  much  he  did  for  them,  you  need 
not  be  told.    He  chose  them  from  among  all  the  fami- 
lies of  men  to  be  his  peculiar  people.    For  their  deliv- 
erance, protection,  and  support,  miracles  of  the  most 
wonderful  kind  were  wrought  so  frequently,  that  they 
almost  ceased  to  be  considered  as  deviations  from  the 
established  course  of  nature.    For  them  God  descend- 
ed from  heaven  and  spoke  in  an  audible  voice  on  Mount 
Sinai.    Among  them  he  dwelt  almost  2000  years  in  a 
visible  cloud  of  ,glory.    To  them  he  came  and  mani- 
fested himself  in  flesh.     To  them,  says  an  apostle, 
pertained  the  adoption,  and  the  glory,  and  the  cove- 
nants, and  the  giving  of  the  law,  and  the  promises. 
Theirs,  he  adds,  are  the  fathers,  and  of  them,  as  con- 
cerning the  flesh,  Christ  came,  who  is  over  all  God 
blessed  forever.    They  were  indeed,  if  any  nation  ever 
was,  as  the  signet  on  God's  right  hand.    Yet  how  ter- 
ribly were  they  scourged  !    What  is  their  history  for 
some  centuries,  but  a  history  of  desolating  judgments, 
inflicted  on  them  by  their  offended  God  ?    And  still  his 
indignation  follows  them.    For  eighteen  centuries,  one 
generation  of  them  after  another  has  lived  a  wretched 
life;  and  then  died  without  hope  under  their  Maker's 
curse.    During  all  this  time,  God  has  been  fulfilling  the 
awful  declaration  which  he  made  respecting  them.  It 
is  a  people  that  hath  no  understanding,  therefore  he  that 
made  them  will  not  have  mercy  on  them,  and  he  that 
formed  them  will  shew  them  no  favor.    Behold,  says 
an  apostle,  to  the  Christian  church,  speaking  of  their  suf- 
ferings,— behold  the  severity  of  God.    If  he  spared  not 
them,  take  heed  lest  he  spare  not  thee.    And  will  he 
then,  O  impenitent  sinner,  spare  thee  ?    No ;  though 
thou  wertthe  signet  on  his  right  hand,  though  thou  wert 
dear  to  him  as  all  the  people  whom  he  loved,  and  chose, 


INEVITABLE  AND  JUSTIFIABLE. 


133 


he  would  not  spare  thee,  unless  thou  shalt  renounce 
thy  sins. 

We  might  easily  refer  you  to  multiplied  instances  of 
a  similar  character  in  the  history  of  God's  dealings  with 
smaller  co mm  unities,  and  with  individuals.    We  might 
show  you  Moses,  the  highly  favored  and  honored  ser- 
vant of  God,  shut  out  from  Canaan,  and  doomed  for 
one  hasty  passionate  word,  to  die  with  those  whose  car- 
casses fell  in  the  wilderness.    We  might  shew  you  Da- 
vid, the  man  so  beloved  of  his  God,  smarting  with 
wounds,  the  anguish  of  which  none  but  a  parent's  heart 
can  conceive,  and  followed  by  an  avenging  sword,  which 
God  declared  should  never,  while  he  lived,  depart  from 
his  house.    We  might  shew  you  the  mangled  corse  of 
an  otherwise  faithful  prophet,  who  was  for  a  single  act 
of  disobedience  into  which  he  was  led  by  deceit,  torn  in 
pieces  by  a  lion.    But  without  insisting  on  these  strik- 
ing proofs  of  God's  displeasure  against  sin,  I  shall  men- 
tion only  one  instance  more ;  but  one  which,  above  all 
that  has  been  mentioned,  displays  God's  inflexible  ad- 
herence to  the  spirit  of  the  declaration  in  our  text. 
The  instance  to  which  I  allude  is  that  of  our  Lord  and 
Saviour  Jesus  Christ.    He  was  indeed  the  signet  on> 
God's  right  hand  in  such  a  sense  as  no  other  being  ever 
was ;  for  he  was  his  only  begotten  and  well-beloved 
Son.    This  object  of  his  affection,  though  not  himself  a 
sinner,  stood  by  his  own  consent  in  the  place  of  sinners, 
to  bear  the  punishment  which  their  sins  deserved.  And 
was  he  treated  more  favorably  than  sinners  are  treated  ? 
Did  God  abate  him  one  p?ng,  take  one  drop  from  the 
bitter  cup,  or  shew  him  the  least  favor  ?    No  ;  it  pleas- 
ed the  Lord  to  bruise  him.    He  spared  not  his  own 
Son.    And  will  he  then,  O  impenitent  sinner,  who  by' 
refusing  to  believe  in  Jesus  Christ  crucifiest  him  afresh, 
will  God  spare  thee  ?  No  ;  though  thou  wert  the  signet 
on  his  right  hand  ;  though  thou  wert  dear  to  him  as  the 
Son  of  his  love,  he  would  not  spare  thee,  when  his  vio- 
lated law  and  his  insulted  justice  call  for  thy  destruction. 
Such,  my  hearers,  so  terrible,  so  convincing  are  the 
12 


134  PUNISHMENT  OF  THE  IMPENITENT 


proofs  which  God  has  exhibited,  that  he  will  sooner  give 
up  all  that  is  dearest  to  him,  than  suffer  sin  to  go  unpun- 
ished, that  he  will  sooner  see  heaven  and  earth  pass 
away,  than  suffer  one  jot  or  one  tittle  to  pass  from  his 
law,  till  all  be  fulfilled.  Hear,  then,  O  earth,  earth, 
earth!  hear  this  word  of  Jehovah. 

I  am  well  aware,  my  bearers,  that  the  light  in  which 
God  has  now  been  exhibited,  will  by  no  means  be  agree- 
able to  the  natural  heart,  that  heart  which,  as  inspiration 
assures  us,  is  enmity  against  God,  and  not  subject  to  his 
law.  If  any  of  you  have  such  a  heart  in  your  bosoms, 
you  will  probably  feel  disposed  to  quarrel  with  what  has 
been  said.  But  remember,  if  you  quarrel,  you  quar- 
rel not  with  the  speaker,  but  the  Bible.  If  you  strive, 
you  strive  not  with  man,  but  with  that  being  who  has 
said,  Woe  to  him  that  striveth  with  his  Maker.  I  have 
simply  stated  facts,  as  I  find  them  recorded  in  God's 
word.  I  have  only  stated  what  he  has  declared  he  will 
do,  and  what  he  has  actually  done,  to  verify  this  decla- 
ration. Here  1  must  leave  it,  and  proceed,  as  was  pro- 
posed, 

II.  To  state  some  of  the  reasons  why  God  has  for- 
med and  enacted  such  a  declaration  ;  or,  in  other  words, 
why  he  will  sooner  give  up  all  that  is  dear  to  him,  than 
suffer  sin  to  go  unpunished. 

It  is  needless  to  remark  that,  among  these  reasons,  a 
disposition  to  give  pain  has  no  place.  As  God  has  sworn 
by  himself,  that  the  wicked  shall  die,  so  he  has  sworn 
by  himself,  that  he  has  no  pleasure  in  their  death.  That 
he  is  not  pleased  to  see  them  perish  is  abundantly  evi- 
dent from  the  means  which  he  has  employed  to  save 
them,  and  especially  from  the  fact,  that  he  has  given  his 
Son  to  open  a  way  for  their  escape.  We  have  already 
mentioned  the  sufferings  of  Christ,  as  a  most  striking 
proof  of  God's  inflexible  justice.  We  may  add,  that 
they  afford  an  equally  striking  proof  of  his  willingness 
to  shew  mercy.  Surely,  no  child  of  Adam  can  apply 
the  epithet  unmerciful  to  that  God,  who  so  loved  the 


INEVITABLE  AND  JUSTIFIABLE. 


135 


world  that  he  gave  his  only  begotten  Son  to  die  for  its 
redemption. 

Nor  has  a  desire  to  revenge  the  insults  and  injuries 
which  sinners  have  offered  to  himself,  any  place  among 
the  motives  which  induce  God  to  punish  sin  ;  for  he  in- 
flicts punishment,  not  as  an  injured  individual,  but  as 
the  Sovereign  and  Judge  of  the  universe  who  is  under 
the  most  sacred  obligations  to  treat  his  subjects  accord* 
ing  to  their  deserts.  This  remark  leads  us  directly  to 
the  grand  reason  why  God  is  so  inflexibly  determined 
to  punish  sin,  and  to  leave  no  impenitent  sinner,  howev- 
-  er  dear  or  highly  exalted,  to  go  unpunished.  It  is  be- 
cause the  welfare  of  his  great  kingdom,  the  peace  and 
happiness  of  the  universe  require  it.  It  is  because  a 
relaxation  of  his  law,  a  departure  from  the  rules  of  strict 
justice,  would  occasion  more  misery  than  will  result  from 
a  rigid  exeuction  of  his  law.  If  this  can  be  made  to  ap- 
pear, it  will  follow,  that  God's  benevolence,  his  concern 
for  the  happiness  of  the  universe,  prompt  him  to  punish 
sin,  and  to  allow  no  impenitent  sinner  to  go  unpunished. 
With  a  view  to  make  this  appear,  I  remark, 

That  it  is  the  nature  and  tendency  of  sin  to  produce 
universal  misery.  This  is  evident  from  the  fact,  that 
sin  is  a  departure  from  God,  the  only  source  of  happi- 
ness. God  is  the  Father  of  lights,  the  Sun  of  the  moral 
universe,  the  Giver  of  every  good  and  perfect  gift.  To 
forsake  him,  then,  is  to  lose  every  good  and  perfect  gift. 
It  is  as  if  our  world  should  fly  off  from  the  sun  into  the 
region  of  eternal  darkness  and  frost.  Besides  sin  in- 
flames the  appetites,  enrages  the  passions,  and,  deposing 
reason  from  her  throne,  places  them  in  her  seat.  Envy, 
hatred,  malice,  revenge,  suspicion,  avarice,  pride,  am- 
bition, and  cruelty,  are  only  different  forms  of  sin.  The 
breast,  then,  in  which  sin  reigns  uncontrolled  must  be 
the  abode  of  misery.  But  thrs  is  not  all.  It  is  the 
tendency  of  sin  to  diffuse  misery  around,  as  far  as  its 
influence  extends,  as  far  as  its  power  can  reach.  If  you 
doubt  this,  consider  for  a  moment  what  would  be  the 
consequence,  should  all  the  causes,  which  now  operate 


136  PUNISHMENT  OF  THE  IMPENITENT 


to  restrain  the  outbreakings  of  sin,  be  removed.  There 
would  then  be  no  law  but  the  will  of  the  strongest.  Sys- 
tems ol  human  legislation  cannot  exist,  or,  at  least,  can- 
not be  carried  into  operation,  without  the  assistance 
which  they  derive  from  oaths.  But  let  God  cease  to 
punish  sin,  and  oaths  would  become  a  mere  nullity. 
They  would  have  no  binding  influence  on  the  conscience. 
Truth  could  not  be  discovered.  The  natural  selfishness 
of  the  human  heart,  pressed  on  one  side  by  most  pow- 
erful temptations,  and  restrained  by  no  countervailing 
force  on  the  other,  would  continually  break  out  in  acts 
of  injustice  and  violence.  Neither  reputation,  nor  lib- 
erty, nor  property,  nor  life,  would  be  safe  for  a  single 
moment.  Multitudes  of  tyrants  would  every  where 
arise,  who,  after  a  brief  reign  of  tumult  and  blood,  would 
be  assassinated,  and  succeeded  by  others^  Their  suc- 
cessors would  pursue  the  same  course,  and  share  the 
same  fate.  In  short,  the  earth  would  be,  as  it  was  be- 
fore the  flood,  filled  with  violence.  If  you  doubt  this, 
look  at  the  state  of  France,  after  her  legislators  had  de- 
clared that  there  is  no  God,  and  caused  the  inscription, 
death  is  an  eternal  sleep,  to  be  engraven  where  it  should 
meet  the  notice  of  every  passer-by;  when  the  parent  was 
betrayed  by  the  son,  and  the  son  by  the  parent ;  no  ob- 
ligations were  regarded  ;  no  man's  liberty  or  life  was 
secure  for  an  hour.  Yet  even  there  all  restraints  were 
net  removed  ;  for  a  few  years  of  disorder  could  not  de- 
stroy all  the  effects  of  previous  education,  and  obliterate 
all  the  salutary  principles  which  had  been  previously  im- 
bibed. Where  then  would  happiness  find  a  dwelling  on 
earth,  were  every  restraint  removed,  were  men  suffered 
to  go  on  from  generation  to  generation  in  an  unrestrained 
course  of  wickedness,  neither  fearing  God  nor  regard- 
ing man  ? 

Will  any  reply,  if  happiness  could  not  be  found  on 
earth,  during  life,  it  might  at  least  be  enjoyed  in  heaven 
after  death  ?  Alas,  my  hearers,  should  God  renounce 
his  inflexible  determination  to  punish  sin,  there  would  be 
no  heaven.    Inspiration  teaches  us,  that  the  happiness 


INEVITABLE  AND  JUSTIFIABLE. 


137 


of  heaven  consists  in  knowing,  loving,  serving,  and  prais- 
ing God.  It  is  his  glory,  we  are  told,  which  constitutes 
the  light  of  the  heavenly  world  above.  But  there  would 
be  no  happiness  in  knowing,  serving,  or  praising  him, 
should  he  lose  the  perfections  which  compose  and  adorn 
his  moral  character.  Take  away  his  truth,  his  justice, 
his  holiness,  and  all  the  glory  which  illuminates  heaven 
would  vanish  into  night.  But  should  God  renounce  his 
determination  to  punish  sin,  he  would  stain  all  these  per- 
fections ;  nay,  he  would  cease  from  that  moment  to  pos- 
sess them.  He  would  no  longer  be  true  ;  for  he  he  has 
not  only  said  but  sworn,  sworn  by  himself,  that  sinners 
shall  not  go  unpunished.  Where  then,  would  be  his 
truth,  should  they  escape  %  He  would  no  longer  be 
holy  ;  for  holiness  implies  hatred  or  opposition  to  sin. 
He  would  no  longer  be  just ;  for  justice  consists  in  exe- 
cuting his  law,  and  rewarding  every  one  according  to 
his  works.  In  short,  he  would  become  altogether  such 
an  one  as  ourselves.  Who  then,  could  find  everlasting 
happiness  in  seeing,  and  praising  through  eternity,  such 
a  being  as  this  ?  a  being  without  truth*  or  holiness,  or 
justice.  Who  could  either  respect  or  love  him  ?  How 
instantaneously  would  the  praises  of  heaven  cease ! 
How  would  their  golden  harps  drop  from  the  hands  of 
its  now  happy  inhabitants and  how  would  angels  be 
compelled  to  stop  in  the  midst  of  their  unfinished  song, 
Just  and  true  are  all  thy  ways,  O  King  of  saints! 
The  sun  of  the  moral  world  would  be  forever  eclipsed, 
and  a  black,  endless  night  would  shroud  the  universe. 
But  this  is  not  all.  Were  sin  unrestrained,  unpunished, 
it  would  soon  scale  heaven,  as  it  has  once  done  already 
in  the  case  of  the  apostate  angels  ;  and  there  reign  and 
rage  with  immortal  strength  through  eternity,  repeating 
in  endless  succession,  and  with  increased  aggravation, 
the  enormities  which  it  has  already  perpetrated  on  earth. 
We  may  add,  that,  after  God  had  once  surrendered  his 
truth,  his  justice,  and  holiness }  and  laid  aside  the  reins 
of  government,  he  could  never  more  resume  them.  Not 
could  he  ever  give  laws,  or  make  promises  to  any  otheie 
12* 


138  PUNISHMENT  OF  THE  IMPENITENT 


world,  or  any  other  race  of  creatures,  which  would  be 
worthy  of  the  least  regard.  It  would  be  instantly  and 
properly  said,  He  has  once  violated  his  word,  and  his 
oath,  and  he  may  do  it  again,  tie  has  once  shown  him- 
self fickle,  unjust,  and  unholy,  and  what  security  can  we 
have  that  he  will  not  do  it  again.  Should  he  silence 
these  clamors  by  an  exertion  of  his  Almighty  power,  he 
might  indeed  have  slaves  to  cringe  before  him,  but  he 
could  never  have  affectionate  subjects  who  would  serve 
him  with  cheerfulness  and  confidence  ;  nor  could  he 
after  once  allowing  sin  to  go  unpunished,  ever  punish  it 
again,  without  exposing  himself  to  the  charge  of  partial- 
ity and  injustice. 

Such,  my  hearers,  would  be  the  terrible  consequen- 
ces, or  rather  a  part  of  the  terrible  consequences  of  God's 
renouncing  his  determination  to  punish  sin.  Can  you 
then  wonder  or  complain,  that  he  so  inflexibly  adheres 
to  this  determination  ?  Can  you  wonder  that  he  will 
rather  give  up  every  thing  most  precious,  than  suffer 
any  impenitent  sinnner,  however  dear  or  highly  exalted 
to  escape  ?  Do  you  not  see  that,  by  suffering  any  guilty 
individual  to  go  unpunished,  he  would  sacrifice  the  hap- 
piness of  the  universe  to  the  selfish  wishes  of  that  indi- 
vidual ?  And  is  it  not  then  most  evident,  that  it  is  his  be- 
nevolence, his  love,  his  concern  for  the  happiness  of  the 
universe,  which  prompts  him  to  punish  sin  ?  Agreeably, 
we  find  the  inspired  writers  ascribing  the  punishments 
which  he  inflicts  to  this  cause.  -They  tell  us  that  he  de- 
stroyed ancient  sinners,  because  his  mercy  endureth  for- 
ever ;  and  God  himself,  when  he  said  to  Moses,  I  will 
cause  all  my  goodness  to  pass  before  thee,  mentioned  as 
one  proof  of  his  goodness,  that  he  will  by  no  means  clear 
the  guilty.  If  this  appears  strange  and  incomprehensi- 
ble to  any  of  you,  let  me  ask  whether  the  concern  of  a 
just  earthly  monarch  for  the  happiness  of  his  subjects 
does  not  appear  as  clearly  in  the  prison  which  he  erects 
for  the  criminal  and  lawless,  as  in  the  rewards  which  he 
bestows  on  the  obedient  and  faithful  ?    If  so,  is  it  too 


INEVITABLE   AND  JUSTIFIABLE. 


139 


much  to  say  that  the  goodness  of  God  shines  as  brightly 
in  the  flames  of  hell,  as  in  the  glories  of  heaven  ? 

And  now,  my  hearers,  allow  me  to  close  by  beseech- 
ing you  to  lay  these  things  seriously  to  heart.  1  do  not 
ask  you  to  believe  my  opinions  or  reasonings  ;  but  I  do 
ask  you  to  believe,  plain  matters  of  fact ;  I  do  ask  you 
to  consider  attentively  what  God  has  actually  done,  that 
you  may  learn  from  it  the  character  of  the  being  with 
whom  you  have  to  do,  in  whose  hands  you  are,  and  at 
whose  bar  you  must  stand.  Remember  inspiration  has 
said,  Why  dost  thou  strive  with  him  ?  for  he  giveth  not 
an  account  of  any  of  his  matters.  He  will  recompense 
it,  whether  thou  choose  or  whether  thou  refuse.  O,  then, 
be  persuaded  to  indulge  no  hopes  of  safety  which  rest  on 
a  belief  that  God  will  not  execute  all  the  threatenings  re- 
corded in  his  word.  Be  persuaded,  instead  of  wasting 
your  time  and  provoking  him  to  anger  by  murmuring 
against  his  justice,  to  embrace  at  once  the  means  which 
he  has  provided  for  the  manifestation  of  his  mercy.  Of 
his  mercy  to  those  who  repent  and  believe  the  gospel,  we 
cannot  say  too  much.  We  can  only  say,  that  it  is  equal 
to  his  justice  ;  and  that  his  determination  to  save  all  who 
repent,  is  as  inflexible  as  his  resolution  to  destroy  all  the 
impenitent.  In  consequence  of  the  atonement  which  his 
Son  has  made,  he  can  now  be  just,  and  yet  justify  and 
save  all  who  believe  in  Jesus.  O,  then,  ye  immortal  spirits, 
ye  probationers  for  eternity,  hear,  hear,  hear,  the  words 
of  your  God  !  Hear  and  tremble,  while  the  thunders  of 
his  fiery  law  burst  out  from  Mount  Sinai.  Hear,  be- 
lieve, and  rejoice,  while  his  glad  tidings  of  great  joy  are 
loudly  proclaimed  from  Mount  Zion.  Let  the  wicked 
forsake  his  way,  and  the  unrighteous  man  his  thoughts  ; 
and  let  him  turn  to  the  Lord,  for  he  will  have  mercy 
upon  him,  and  to  our  God,  for  he  will  abundantly  par- 
don. 


SERMON  X. 


The  Guilt  of  Indifference  to  Divine  Threatenings  . 


JEREMIAH  XXXVI.  24. 

YET  THEY  WERE  NOT  AFRAID,  NOR  RENT  THEIR  GARMENTS,  NEITHER 
THE  KING,  NOR  ANY  OF  HIS  SERVANTS,  THAT  HEARD  ALL  THESE 
WORDS. 

When  the  events  recorded  in  this  chapter  took  place, 
Jeremiah  had  been  employed  for  more  than  twenty 
years  in  discharging  the  duties  of  his  prophetical  office. 
During  that  period  he  had  brought  a  great  number  of 
messages  from  God  to  his  countrymen,  in  which  their 
sins  were  enumerated,  and  the  most  terrible  judgments 
denounced,  both  upon  them  and  upon  the  neighboring 
nations,  unless  they  should  repent.  But  most  of  these 
messages  had  long  since  been  forgotten  ;  and  a  repetition 
of  them  seemed  to  produce  no  salutary  effect.  God 
therefore  saw  fit,  instead  of  sending  them  new  messages 
by  the  mouth  of  his  prophet,  to  adopt  another  method  of 
proceeding.  A  description  of  this  method,  and  a  state- 
ment of  God's  reasons  for  adopting  it,  are  given  in  the  first 
verses  of  the  chapter  before  us  :  The  word  of  the  Lord 
came  unto  Jeremiah,  saying,  Take  thee  a  roll  of  a  book, 
and  write  therein  all  the  words  which  I  have  spoken  to 
thee  against  Israel,  and  against  Judah>  and  against  all  the 
nations,  from  the  day  that  I  first  spoke  unto  thee,  even 
unto  this  day.  It  may  be  that  the  house  of  Judah  will 
hear  all  the  evil  which  I  purpose  to  do  unto  them,  and 
return  every  man  from  his  evil  way,  that  I  may  forgive 
their  iniquity  and  their  sin. 


i 


THE  GUHuT  OF  INDIFFERENCE,  &C.  141 


There  did  indeed  seem  reason  to  hope,  that  this  meth- 
od might  produce  the  desired  effect.  Though  the  warn- 
ings, and  threatenings,  and  revelations  of  God,  when  de- 
livered separately,  with  perhaps  long  intervals  intervening, 
had  made  no  impression  upon  the  hearers;  yet  it  might  be 
hoped  that,  when  all  these  warnings  and  threatenings 
were  collected,  and  presented  to  their  minds  at  once, 
they  would  prove  more  efficacious.  Accordingly,  the 
experiment  was  tried,  the  record  was  made,  and  read, 
first  to  the  people,  and  afterwards  to  the  king  and  his 
princes;  and  we  need  only  turn  over  the  prophecy  of 
Jeremiah  to  be  convinced,  that  it  was  one  of  the  most 
alarming,  heart-affecting  messages  which  was  ever  sent 
by  God  to  men.  It  was,  in  effect,  a  letter  written  with 
his  own  hand,  subscribed  with  his  own  name,  sealed 
with  his  own  seal,  and  dropped  from  heaven  at  their  feet. 
And  its  contents  were  at  once  terrible  and  melting  be- 
yond description.  It  contained  such  denunciations  of 
divine,  Almighty  vengeance,  as,  one  would  think,  were 
sufficient  to  chill  the  blood  and  freeze  the  soul  with  hor- 
ror ;  and,  at  the  same  time,  such  affectionate  invitations 
to  repentance,  such  tender  and  often  repeated  assuran- 
ces of  God's  readiness  to  forgive  the  penitent  offendefj 
as  must  have  melted  any  thing  but  a  heart  of  adamant. 
Yet,  says  our  text,  yet  they  were  not  afraid,  nor  rent 
their  garments,  neither  the  king  nor  any  of  his  princes 
when  they  heard  these  words.  The  mode  of  expression 
here  made  use  of,  plainly  and  forcibly  intimates  that  there 
was  sufficient  reason  why  they  should  have  been  thus 
affected  ;  and  that  their  insensibility  was  exceedingly 
criminal.  They  ought  to  have  been  afraid,  they  ought 
to  have  rent  their  garments  ;  that  is,  they  ought  both  to 
have  been  alarmed,  and  to  have  felt  in  view  of  their  sins, 
those  strong  emotions  of  grief,  indignation  and  abhor- 
rence, which  the  Jews  were  accustomed  to  express  by 
rending  their  clothes. 

And  now,  my  hearers,  judge,  I  pray  you,  between 
God  and  these  incorrigible  sinners.  What  other  means 
could  he  employ  to  bring  them  to  repentance,  and  thus 


142  THE  GUILT  OP  INDIFFERENCE 

render  it  possible  to  pardon  their  sins  ?  And  when  these 
means  proved  ineffectual,  what  remained  but  to  fulfil  his 
word,  manifest  his  truth  and  holiness,  and  satisfy  the  de- 
mands of  justice,  by  executing  upon  them  the  destruc- 
tion from  which  they  refused  to  fly  ?  If  you  judge  right- 
eous judgment,  you  will  take  part  with  God  in  his  con- 
troversy with  these  obdurate  rebels,  and  say  that  he  and 
his  throne  is  guiltless,  that  they  richly  deserved  their  fate. 

And  yet,  many  of  you  cannot  say  this ;  many  of  you 
cannot,  in  the  case  before  us,  pronounce  a  righteous  sen- 
tence, without  at  the  same  time  condemning  yourselves. 
God  is  pursuing,  and  for  a  long  time  has  been  pursuing, 
the  same  method  with  you,  which  he  employed  on  this 
occasion  with  the  Jews.  He  has  caused  all  his  awful 
denunciations  against  sin,  all  the  terrible  judgments  which 
he  has  inflicted  upon  impenitent  sinners,  and  all  the  far 
more  terrible  woes  with  which  he  will  overwhelm  them 
in  the  world  to  come,  to  be  recorded  in  a  book,  in  the 
volume  of  inspiration.  The  very  roll,  which  Jeremiah 
wrote  by  God's  command,  in  which  he  expresses  so 
clearly  his  indignation  against  sin,  and  which  it  was  so 
criminal  in  the  king  of  Judah  and  his  princes  to  disre- 
gard,— forms  a  part  of  this  volume.  Nor  is  this  all.  The 
same  God,  who  spoke  to  them  by  his  prophet,  has,  in 
these  latter  ages,  spoken  to  you  by  his  Son.  By  him  he 
has  revealed  himself  to  us  in  the  most  interesting  atti- 
tudes ;  he  has  addressed  us  in  the  most  impressive  lan- 
guage ;  he  has  addressed  us  as  the  God  and  Father  of 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  ;  in  the  attitude  of  taking  from 
his  bosom  his  only  begotten  and  well-beloved  Son,  that 
he  might  give  him  up  for  us  all  to  bear  our  sins  on  the 
cross.  In  the  instructions,  in  the  gospel  of  that  Son,  he 
has  set  before  us  denunciations  of  vengeance  far  more 
tremendous  ;  invitations  and  offers  of  mercy  far  more 
tender  ;  proofs  of  his  goodness  far  more  affecting;  and 
motives  to  love  and  obedience  far  more  powerful, — than 
were  ever  exhibited  to  his  ancient  people.  He  has 
brought  life  and  immortality  more  clearly  to  light ;  he 
has  rent  asunder  the  veil  which  concealed  the  eternal 


TO   DIVINE  THREATENINGS. 


143 


world  from  the  view  of  mortals  ;  he  has  made  the  glo- 
ries of  heaven  to  blaze  down  upon  our  eyes  ;  he  has 
caused  the  unquenchable  flames  of  hell  to  flash  up  be- 
fore our  faces  ;  he  has  caused  the  groans  of  the  latter, 
the  songs  of  the  former,  the  blast  of  the  last  trumpet, 
and  the  sentence  which  the  final  judge  will  pronounce 
upon  the  righteous  and  upon  the  wicked,  to  resound  in 
our  ears.  In  fine,  all  that  he  has  done,  all  that  he  de- 
signs to  do,  he  has  recorded  in  the  Sctiptures.  He  has 
dictated  them  by  his  own  Spirit ;  he  has  subscribed 
them  with  his  own  name ;  he  has  stamped  upon  them 
the  broad  seal  of  heaven  ;  he  has  authenticated  them  by 
fulfilling  many  of  the  prophecies  which  they  contain, 
and,  addressing  them  to  us  as  it  were  by  n-me,  has 
caused  them  to  drop  from  heaven  into  our  hands.  And 
he  has  told  us  why  all  this  is  done.  It  is  done  with  the 
same  view  with  which  the  record  of  Jeremiah  was  made. 
It  was  done  that  we,  and  other  sinners,  to  whom  its 
contents  relate,  might  read  and  hear  them  5  and  thus  be 
induced  to  return  unto  our  forsaken  God,  and  receive, 
through  the  atonement  and  intercession  of  Jesus  Christ, 
the  forgiveness  of  all  our  iniquities.  In  part  this  design 
has  been  accomplished.  The  record  has  reached  us. 
Its  contents  have  been  made  known  to  us.  You  have 
all  read  them  and  heard  them  read.  And  some  of  you, 
we  trust,  have  not  heard  them  in  vain.  You  have  com- 
plied with  the  gracious  design  for  which  they  were  sent. 
You  have  been  alarmed  by  their  threatenings.  You 
have  felt  grief  and  shame  and  self-abhorrence,  in  view  of 
your  sins ;  you  have  renounced  them,  and  returned  to 
your  forsaken  God,  and  he  has  freely  forgiven  you  all 
your  trespasses. 

But  many  of  you,  my  hearers,  though  you  have  heard 
and  read  the  same  truths,  have  not  been  thus  affected 
by  them.  You  have  rather  irritated  the  king  of  Judah 
and  his  princes.  You  have  not  been  alarmed  ;  you  are 
not  now  alarmed,  when  you  hear  the  threatenings  of 
God's  word  ;  and  some,  who  once  were  so,  have  ceas- 
ed to  feel  alarm.    Nor  have  you  felt  those  emotions 


144 


THE  GUILT  OF  INDIFFERENCE 


which  the  Jews  were  accustomed  to  express  by  rending 
their  garments.  You  have  not  been  grieved  ;  you  have 
not  been  ashamed  ;  you  have  not  felt  self-abhorrence 
on  account  of  your  sins  ;  nor  have  your  hearts  relented 
in  view  of  God's  mercies.  No,  as  certainly  as  the 
charge  in  our  text  stands  recorded  against  the  king  of 
Judah  and  his  princes,  so  certainly  does  it^stand  record- 
ed against  you  in  the  book  of  God's  remembrance,  that 
though  you  have  heard  all  his  words,  yet  you  were  not 
suitably  alarmed,  or  affected  by  them ;  but  listened  to 
them,  for  the  most  part,  with  indifference  and  unconcern. 
This  charge  then  we  must,  as  it  were,  extract  from  the 
records  of  heaven,  and  press  it  upon  your  attention.  It 
is  by  far  the  heaviest  charge  which  we  have  to  bring 
against  you,  or  indeed  which  can  be  brought  against 
sinners.  That  you  are  moral,  in  the  common  accepta- 
tion of  the  term,  we  do  not  undertake  to  deny.  That 
you  are  punctual  in  attending  on  the  public  worship  of 
God,  and  treat  the  institutions  of  religion  with  apparent 
respect,  I  readily  allow.  That  I  am  under  great,  very 
great  obligations  to  your  kindness  and  generosity,  I  ac- 
knowledge with  gratitude.  But  still  I  must  press  upon 
you  the  charge  of  hearing  the  word  of  God  with  an  al- 
most total  indifference,  with  a  most  criminal  unconcern. 
1  call  you  to  witness  against  each  other,  that  this  charge 
is  true.  I  call  upon  your  own  consciences  to  bear  testi- 
mony to  its  truth.  I  call  with  reverence  on  the  insulted 
majesty  of  Leaven,  to  witness  the  manner  in  which  his 
declarations  are  received  in  this  house,  and  the  little 
effect  which  they  produce.  What  sinner  is  now  led  by 
them  to  fly  from  the  wrath  to  come  ?  What  individual 
is  now  excited  by  them  to  ask,  What  shall  I  do  to  be 
saved  ?  Where  is  the  individual  who  is  one  half  so 
much  affected  by  all  that  God  has  said  and  recorded,  as 
he  would  be  by  intelligence  that  seme  temporal  calam- 
ity is  impending?  The  charge  is  then  fully  substantia- 
ted. Heaven  and  earth,  God  and  men,  your  own  ob- 
servation and  your  own  consciousnesss,  bear  testimony 
to  its  truth. 


TO  DIVINE  THREATENING  S 


145 


And  while  it^is  thus  proved  in  all  its  length  and 
breadth  to  be  true  of  impenitent  sinners,  it  is  also  true, 
though  we  hope  to  a  less  extent,  of  many  who  have  pro- 
fessed repentance.  Yes,  many  who  once  trembled  at 
the  word  of  the  Lord,  have  almost,  if  not  entirely  ceas- 
ed to  tremble  at  it.  Many  of  the  professed  servants 
of  God  hear  his  declarations,  his  threatenings,  his  warn- 
ings, even  those  which  are  addressed  to  his  church,  with 
feelings  very  little  removed  from  indifference.  Nay, 
they  can  see  one  of  his  most  awful  threatenings  now  ex- 
ecuting, one  of  his  most  terrible  judgments  now  inflict- 
ing upon  us,  without  laying  it  seriously  to  heart.  We 
allude  to  the  almost  total  withdrawal  of  his  gracious 
presence  and  of  divine  influences, — a  judgment,  com- 
pared with  which,  pestilence,  famine,  and  conflagration, 
would  be  mercies.  Yes,  though  we  would  fain  not  tell 
the  disgraceful  fact  in  Gath,  nor  publish  it  in  the  streets 
of  Askelon,  yet  it  must  be  told,  fhat  the  words  God, 
and  Christ,  and  heaven,  and  hell,  and  judgment,  and 
eternity,  have  almost  become  in  this  house  idle  words, 
without  force  or  significancy  ;  that  the  glorious  glad  ti- 
dings ofjhe  blessed  God  here  excite  no  joy,  and  meet 
with  no  reception  ;  that  the  things  which  many  prophets 
and  kings  desired  to  see,  and  into  which  even  angels 
desire  to  look,  can  scarcely  command  an  hour's  lan- 
guid attention  ;  and  if  God's  threatenings  are  to  excite 
fear,  or  his  glad  tidings  to  inspire  joy,  they  must  be  pro- 
claimed elsewhere ;  they  must  be  addressed  to  hearts 
which  have  not  acquired  a  more  than  adamantine  hard- 
ness under  the  means  of  grace. 

And  is  it  indeed  come  to  this  ?  Is  it  indeed  become 
a  fact,  that  in  this  house,  where  God  has  so  often  dis- 
played his  power  and  grace,  where  the  lighting  down 
of  his  glorious  arm' has  so  often  been  seen,  and  where  so 
many  hearts  once  seemed  to  bow  with  reverence  before 
his  commands,  and  drink  in  with  delight  his  promises, 
he  is  now  become  a  cypher,  and  his  word  an  idle  tale  ? 
Is  it  true  that  he  has,  in  this  favored  place,  seen  himself 
treated  with  such  indignity,  that  even  his  patience  and 
13 


146  THE  GUILT  OF  INDIFFERENCE 

forbearance  could  no  longer  endure  it,  and  he  was  con- 
strained to  depart  ?    Yes,  my  hearers,  it  is  indeed  come 
to  this.    The  glory  is  departed.    The  gracious  pres- 
ence of  God,  which  once  rilled  this  house,  and  almost 
made  itself  visible,  is  withdrawn,  and  its  departure  will 
be  final,  it  will  never  return,  unless  we  become  more 
suitably  affected  by  the  contents  of  his  word,  and  by  a 
recollection  of  the  sins  which  have  constrained  him  to 
forsake  us  ;  for  his  language  respecting  them  who  treat 
him,  as  we  have  done,  is,  I  will  go  and  return  to  my 
place,  until  they  acknowledge  their  offence  and  seek  my 
face.    But  we  shall  never  acknowledge  our  offence,  till 
we  are  convinced  of  it;  we  shall  never  be  convinced  of 
it,  till  it  is  set  clearly  before  us,  in  all  its  blackness  and 
enormity,  and  with  all  its  aggravations.    This  therefore 
I  have  of  late  frequently  attempted  to  do  ;  attempted  it 
so  often,  that  you  are  perhaps  weary  of  the  repetition 
and  ready  to  wish  that  your  attention  might  rather  be 
called  to  some  other  subject.    But,  my  hearers,  what 
would  it  avail,  in  the  present  state  of  things,  to  call 
your  attention  to  any  other  subject  ?    What  subject  so- 
ever is  chosen  for  the  theme  of  a  discourse,  it  must  be 
drawn  from  the  word  of  God  ;  and  what  can  it  avail  to 
present  subjects  to  you  from  his  word,  unless  you  pay 
some  regard  to  its  authority ;  unless  you  are,  at  least  in 
Some  degree  affected  by  its  contents,  when  they  are 
pressed  upon  you  ? 

On  this  often  repeated  subject  I  must  therefore  still 
insist.  It  must  still  be  my  first,  my  principal  aim  and 
endeavor,  to  make  you  sensible  of  the  enormous,  the 
heaven-provoking,  heaven-daring  wickedness  of  hearing 
without  emotion  the  declarations  of  Jehovah.  It  is  a 
sin  which,  however  lightly  any  may  regard  it,  involves 
in  itself  all  the  worst  and  most  provoking  sins  of  which 
men  can  be  guilty.  It  involves,  for  instance,  and  ex- 
presses the  utmost  contempt  of  God.  The  man  who 
hears  God's  threatenings  without  being  afraid,  and  his 
kind  invitations  and  promises  without  being  melted,  does 
i^n  effect  say  to  his  face.  I  consider  nothing  which  thou 


TO  DIVINE  THREATENINGS.  147 

canst  utter  as  of  sufficient  importance  to  excite  the 
smallest  emotion  ;  neither  thy  favor  nor  thy  displeasure 
is  of  the  least  consequence  to  me ;  I  dread  not  thy 
threatenings,  I  regard  not  thy  promises  ;  after  thou  hast 
said  all  that  thou  canst  say,  I  remain  perfectly  unmoved, 
and  prepared  to  execute,  not  thy  pleasure,  but  my  own. 
And  if  this  does  not  express  the  utmost  contempt  of  God, 
what  can  express  it  ?  It  is  a  well  known  fact,  that  our 
feelings  toward  any  being  may  be  estimated,  with  great 
exactness,  by  the  regard  which  we  pay  to  his  words, 
and  by  the  degree  in  which  they  affect  us.  If  we  feel 
any  respect,  or  esteem,  or  affection  for  a  person,  we 
listen  to  his  words  with  proportionable  interest  and  at- 
tention ;  and  if  they  relate  to  important  subjects  in  which 
we  are  concerned,  they  will  produce  some  effect  upon 
our  minds.  On  the  contrary,  if  we  thoroughly  despise 
any  one,  all  that  he  can  say  will  be  heard  with  indiffer- 
ence, and  produce  no  effect  upon  us.  This  is  so  well 
known,  that  we  cannot  insult  a  man  more  grossly,  we 
cannot  wound  his  feelings  more  deeply,  than  by  shewing 
him  that  we  pay  no  regard  to  any  thing  which  he  can 
say  ;  that  all  his  offers  of  friendship,  all  his  threatened 
displeasure,  all  his  arguments  and  entreaties,  are  heard 
by  us  with  indifference  and  unconcern.  No  words 
which  language  affords,  could  express  contempt  of  him 
so  effectually.  Yet  this  insult,  this  greatest  of  insults, 
has  been  offered  to  the  awful  majesty  of  heaven  and 
earth  a  thousand  and  ten  thousand  times,  in  this  very 
house.  And  it  is  offered  to  him  afresh  as  often  as  any 
individual  hears  his  word  read  or  spoken  without  being 
affected  by  it. 

This  sin  also  involves  and  indicates  the  highest  degree  of 
unbelief,  of  that  unbelief  which  makes  God  a  liar.  When 
a  man  brings  us  intelligence  of  most  important  events,  of 
events  in  which,  if  true,  we  are  deeply  interested,  we 
cannot  tell  him  more  plainly  that  we  disbelieve  every 
thing  which  he  has  said,  than  by  remaining  perfectly  un- 
affected. If  we  thus  remain,  he  sees  at  once  that  we 
have  no  confidence  at  all  in  his  veracity,  or,  in  other 


148  THE  GUILT  OF  INDIFFERENCE 


words,  that  we  believe  him  to  be  a  liar.  Now  the  intel- 
ligence which  God  communicates  to  us  in  his  word  is, 
if  true,  of  the  very  highest,  nay  of  infinite  importance. 
Every  man  who  believes  it,  feels  that  it  is  sor  and  is  af- 
fected by  it  in  exact  proportion  to  the  degree  of  his  be- 
lief. He  then  who  is  but  in  a  small  degree  affected  by 
God's,  word,  has  but  little  faith  in  it,  and  he  who  is  not  at 
all  affected  by  it,  has  no  faith  in  it  at  all.  He  is  as  com-  . 
pletely  an  infidel  as  any  one  who  ever  gloried  in  the 
name. 

Again  ;  those  who  hear  or  read  the  word  of  God, 
without  being  affected,  display  extreme  hardness  of  heart. 
They  show  that  their  hearts  are  absolutely  unimpressible 
by  any  motives  or  considerations  which  infinite  wisdom 
itself  can  suggest ;  that  they  are  of  so  much  more  than 
flinty  hardness,  as  to  resist  that  word  which  God  himself 
declares  to  be  like  a  fire,  and  a  hammer,  that  breaketh 
the  rock  in  pieces.  Such  are  some  of  the  sins  of  which 
they  are  guilty,  who  hear  without  emotion  the  declara- 
tions of  Jehovah.  And  we  assert,  with  the  utmost  con- 
fidence and  solemnity,  that  three  worse  sins  never  pollu- 
ted the  heart  of  fallen  man,  or  fallen  spirit.  Three 
worse  sins  cannot  be  found  in  those  regions  of  final 
abandonment  and  despair,  where  sin,  in  all  its  dreadful 
forms,  rages  uncontrolled.  If  any  suppose  that  we  ex- 
aggerate, that  we  pourtray  the  sinfulness  of  hearing  God's 
word  without  regarding  it  in  colors  too  dark,  let  them  look 
into  the  Scriptures  ;  and  if  any  thing  which  is  there  re- 
corded can  produce  conviction  in  their  minds,  they  will 
find  enough  to  convince  them  that  we  have  not  been, 
that  on  this  subject  we  cannot  be  guilty  of  exaggera- 
ting. They  will  find  multiplied  proofs  that,  in  God's 
estimation,  no  sin  is  so  abominable  as  this ;  that  no  sin 
fills  up  so  soon  the  sinner's  measure  of  iniquity,  or  draws 
down  such  sure,  and  swift,  and  awful  destruction  upon 
his  head.  Look,  for  example,  at  the  old  world.  It  was 
corrupt,  it  was  filled  with  violence,  every  imagination  of 
the  thoughts  of  man's  heart  was  evil  only,  and  that  con- 
tinually.   Yet  God  still  bore  with  it ;  for  its  inhabitants 


TO  DIVINE  THREATENINGS.  149 

had  not  yet  heard  his  messages  with  indifference. 
A  day  of  grace,  a  space  for  repentance,  was  therefore 
afforded  them.  Noah,  a  preacher  of  righteousness,  was 
sent  to  reprove  them  for  their  sins  and  to  warn  them  of 
the  destruction  which  was  impending,  and  which  would 
fall  unless  they  repented.  But  they  would  not  repent ; 
they  were  not  alarmed,  they  heard  the  warnings  of  Noah 
with  indifference  and  unconcern ;  and  this  God  could 
not  bear  ;  this  sealed  their  doom,  and  the  flood  came 
and  destroyed  them  all. 

Look  next  at  God's  ancient  people  in  the  days  of  Jer- 
emiah and  his  cotemporary  prophets.  They  had  for 
ages  been  guilty  of  every  other  sin  which  tended  to  pro- 
voke God  to  jealousy.  They  had  forsaken  him  to  wor- 
ship idols ;  they  had  polluted  his  temple  with  their 
idolatrous  abominations  5  they  had  offered  their  children 
in  the  fire  to  Moloch  5  and  what  their  character  and  con- 
duct were  in  other  respects,  we  may  learn  from  God's 
own  description  of  it :  Your  hands  are  defiled  with  blood, 
and  your  fingers  with  iniquity  ;  your  lips  have  spoken 
lies,  and  your  tongue  muttered  perverseness.  None 
calleth  for  judgment,  nor  pleadeth  for  truth  ;  they  trust 
in  vanity  and  speak  lies,  they  conceive  mischief  and 
bring  forth  iniquity  ;  their  feet  run  to  evil,  and  are  swift 
to  shed  innocent  blood  ;  and  judgment  is  turned  away 
backward,  and  justice  standeth  afar  off,  for  truth  is  fall- 
en in  the  street  and  equity  cannot  enter.  Now  could 
any  nation  be  in  a  worse  moral  and  religious,  state  than 
this  ?  Yet  all  this  God  bore  with,  for  years  he  bore  with 
it.  He  sent  them  more  highly  gifted  prophets,  more 
faithful  reprovers  ;  and  if  they  would  have  listened  to 
these  reprovers  and  turned  from  their  iniquities,  he  would 
have  forgiven  all.  But  Jeremiah  and  other  prophets 
had  warned  them,  in  vain  ;  when  God  had  caused  all  his 
threatenings  to  be  written  in  a  book  and  read  in  their  ears,  ' 
and  saw  that  they  were  not  afraid,  neither  rent  their 
clothes,  he  could  bear  with  them  no  longer,  but  gave 
them  up  to  speedy  and  terrible  destruction.  Read  the 
writings  of  Jeremiah  and  the  other  prophets  of  that  age, 
13* 


150  THE  GUILT  OP  INDIFFERENCE 


and  you  will  find  that  the  unconcern  with  which  they 
regarded  God's  reproofs  and  threatenings,  are  mentioned 
far  more  frequently  than  any  of  their  other  sins,  as  the 
immediate  causes  of  their  ruin. 

Once  more  ;  look  at  the  Jews  in  our  Saviour's  time. 
From  the  testimony  of  their  own  historian,  Josephus,  as 
well  as  from  the  writings  of  the  Evangelists,  it  is  evident, 
that  irreligion  and  every  kind  of  immorality,  every  spe- 
cies of  crime,  prevailed  among  them  in  an  almost  unex- 
ampled degree.    And  yet  our  Saviour  says,  If  I.  had  not 
come  and  spoken  to  them,  they  had  not  had  sin.    As  if 
he  had  said,  the  sin  of  hearing,  with  unconcern  and  un- 
belief, the  messages  which  I  have  brought  them  from 
heaven,  so  far  transcends  all  other  sins,  that,  in  compari- 
son with  it,  they  are  as  nothing,  and  not  worthy  even  to 
come  into  the  account.    My  hearers,  this  is  decisive, 
this  is  sufficient.    Nothing  more  need  be  said  to  prove 
that,  in  the  judgment  of  God,  there  is  no  sin  like  that  of 
making  light  of  his  declarations  ;  that  there  is  no  sin 
which  so  certainly  draws  down  the  most  terrible  express- 
ions of  his  indignation.    My  hearers,  if  any  of  you 
wonder  at  this,  let  me  remind  you  that,  in  similar  cases, 
we  judge  in  a  similar  manner.    Suppose  a  son  to  be- 
come idle,  vicious,  profligate  ;  to  be  guilty  of  frequently 
and  grossly  disobeying  his  parents ;  to  run  into  every 
kind  of  excess  ;  yet  they  do  not  give  him  up  as  hopeless, 
do  not  disinherit  or  banish  him  on  account  of  all  this,  so 
long  as  their  expostulations,  their  entreaties,  their  tears 
appear  to  produce  any  effect  upon  his  feelings.  But 
when  this  ceases  to  be  the  case,  when  all  which  they  can 
say,  is  heard  by  him,  and  all  their  distress  and  their  tears 
are  seen  by  him,  with  perfect  indifference,  then  they 
despair ;  then  they  say,  he  no  longer  regards  us  as  his 
parents,  we  have  lost  all  influence  over  his  mind  ;  there 
is  no  reason  to  hope  that  our  endeavors  to  effect  his  re- 
formation will  avail  any  thing ;  let  him  go  from  us ;  let 
him  follow  his  own  course,  since  all  attempts  to  restrain 
him,  are  vain.    Just  so  our  Father  in  heaven  bears  and 
forbears,  notwithstanding  many  gross  provocations,  so 


TO  DIVINE  THREATENINGS. 


151 


long  as  bis  word  produces  any  effect  upon  us  ;  so  long 
as  there  seems  to  be  the  least  reason  to  hope  that  we 
shall  ever  yield  to  its  warnings  and  admonitions.  But 
when  he  sees  that  they  are  all  regarded  with  indif- 
ference; that  we  are  neither  alarmed  by  his  threat- 
enings, nor  melted  by  his  invitations,  then  he  treats 
us  as  he  treated  Israel  of  old.  Israel,  says  he, 
would  not  hearken  to  my  voice,  and  my  people  would 
none  of  me  :  so  I  turned  and  gave  them  up  to  their  own 
lusts,  and  they  walked  in  their  own  counsels.  Now,  my 
careless  hearers,  this  sin,  this  greatest  of  sins,  this  sin 
which  has  destroyed  so  many  millions  of  immortal  beings, 
we  charge  upon  you  ;  the  truth  of  the  charge  has  been 
sufficiently  proved,  and  you  yourselves  cannot  deny  it. 
Even  now  many  of  you  are,  probably,  exhibiting  addi- 
tional proofs  of  its  truth.  You  have  this  day  heard  some 
of  God's  most  terrible  threatenings  repeated  ;  you  have 
heard  from  his  own  word  that  he  will  execute  them  with 
infallible  certainty,  if  you  remain  in  your  present  state  ; 
and  you  have  now  heard  how  great,  how  provoking, 
how  destructive  a  sin  it  is,  not  to  be  alarmed  by  these 
threatenings.  Yet  it  is  probable,  it  is,  I  fear,  but  too 
certain,  that  many  of  you  are  not  alarmed ;  that  many 
of  you  hear  all  this  with  as  much  unconcern,  as  the  king 
of  Judah  and  his  princes  heard  the  words  of  Jeremiah's 
roll.  And  if  this  is  the  case,  what  willit  avail  that  your 
dispositions  are  amiable,  that  your  morals  are  unimpeach- 
ed,  and  that  you  treat  the  institutions  of  religion  with 
some  apparent  respect.  O,  what  can  all  these  things 
avail,  so  long  as  your  hearts  are  polluted,  and  your  char- 
acters blackened  in  the  sight  of  God,  by  the  worst  and 
most  provoking  of  all  sins  ?  Were  there  any  reason  to 
hope  that  arguments  or  entreaties  would  induce  you  no 
longer  to  be  guilty  of  it,  gladly  would  I  employ  them. 
I  would  beseech  you  no  more  to  tell  Jehovah  to  his  face 
that  he  cannot  make  you  tremble,  that  he  cannot  make 
you  weep,  lest  he  should  be  provoked  to  make  you  trem- 
ble with  evil  spirits,  and  to  cast  you  into  outer  darkness, 
where  is  weeping  and  wailing  and  gnashing  of  teeth. 


152  THE  GUILT  OF  INDIFFERENCE 

We  would  beseech  you  to  comply  with  the  purpose  for 
which  he  has  caused  his  declarations  to  be  recorded  and 
placed  in  your  hands,  by  repenting  of  your  sins,  embra- 
cing the  Saviour,  and  receiving  through  him  a  full  and 
gracious  pardon.  But  in  vain  should  I  urge  these  and 
other  considerations  drawn  from  the  word  of  God,  so 
long  as  that  word  is  regarded  by  you  with  indifference. 
We  may  go  round  and  round,  and  assail  you  on  every 
side,  and  seek  every  where  for  some  avenue  through 
which  the  truth  may  enter  ;  but  all  will  be  vain,  until  you 
learn  to  revere  and  tremble  at  the  words  of  Jehovah. 

But  shall  our  endeavors,  my  professing  hearers,  prove 
equally  unsuccessful  with  you  ?    If  they  do  so,  they  will 
certainly  continue  to  prove  unsuccessful  with  impenitent 
sinners ;  for  as  Moses  said  to  God  ;  Lord,  the  children 
of  Israel  have  not  hearkened  to  me  ;  how  then  should 
Pharaoh  hear  me  ?  so  we  may  say,  If  God's  own  profes- 
sed servants  do  not  tremble  at  his  word,  how  can  we 
hope  that  sinners  will  tremble  ?    If  it  does  not  lead  you 
to  repentance,  how  shall  it  lead  them  to  repent  ?  My 
brethren,  it  is  painfully  affecting,  it  is  in  the  highest  de- 
gree alarming,  to  see  how  little  apparent  effect  is  now 
produced  upon  this  church  by  appeals  which  would  once 
have  affected  it  like  an  electric  shock.    And  it  is  still 
more  affecting  and  alarming  to  see  how  little  we  are  af- 
fected by  the  spiritual  judgments  under  which  we  are 
perishing.    Were  a  pestilence  raging  in  this  town,  we 
should  feel.    Were  half  its  habitations  involved  in  one 
conflagration,  we  should  feel.    Nay,  should  trade  and 
commerce  suffer  a  stagnation,  we  should  feel.  But 
since  we  are  suffering  nothing  more  than  the  loss  of  God's 
gracious  presence  and  its  irreparable  consequences,  the 
decline  of  religion,  the  prevalence  of  a  moral  pestilence, 
which  ends  in  the  second  death  ;  and  the  spreading  of  a 
conflagration  in  which  immortal  souls  are  consumed,  we 
seem  to  forget  that  we  have  any  cause  for  sorrow  and 
alarm.    My  brethren,  these  things  ought  not  so  to  be  ; 
and  let  me  add,  so  they  must  no  longer  be.    If  you  ever 
did  feel  anything,  if  you  ever  expect  to  feel  anything, 


TO  DIVINE  THREATENING^. 


153 


now,  now  is  the  time  to  feel,  and  not  to  feel  only,  but  to 
act.  In  Christ's  name  I  say  to  you,  Whosoever  hath  an 
ear,  let  him  hear  what  the  Spirit  saith  '  to  the  churches. 
In  his  name  1  say  to  you,  Either  cease  to  call  me  Master 
and  Lord,  or  treat  me  as  such  by  hearing  and  obeying 
my  words.  I  charge  every  declining  professor  before 
God  and  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  as  he  will  answer  it 
at  the  judgment  day,  to  remember  from  whence  he  has 
fallen,  and  repent,  and  do  his  first  works  ;  and  to  recol- 
lect in  a  practical  manner  and  with  self-application,  the 
declaration  of  Jehovah,  To  this  man  will  I  look,  even  to 
him  that  is  poor,  and  of  a  contrite  spirit,  and  that  trem- 
bleth  at  my  word. 

And  to  all  of  every  description  I  say,  Hear  ye,  give 
ear ;  be  not  proud,  for  the  Lord  hath  spoken  ;  and  what 
he  hath  spoken,  he  will  assuredly  perform.  Hearken 
then  to  the  voice  of  the  Lord  vour  God,  before  he  cause 
darkness,  and  before  your  feet  stumble  upon  the  dark 
mountains,  and  while  ye  look  for  light,  he  turn  it  into  the 
shadow  of  death,  and  make  it  gross  darkness.  But  if  ye 
will  not  hear  it,  my  soul  shall  weep  in  secret  places  for 
your  pride ;  and  mine  eye  shall  weep  sore,  and  run 
down  with  tears,  because  of  the  destruction  which  is 
coming  upon  my  people. 


SERMON  XI. 

The  Sin,  Danger,  and  Unreasonableness  of  Despair. 


JEREMIAH  XVIII.  12. 

AND  THEY  SAID,  THERE  IS  NO  HOPE  J  BUT  WE  WILL  WA.LK  AFTER 
OUR  OWN  DEVICES,  AND  WE  WILL  EVERY  ONE  DO  THE  IMAGINA- 
TION OF  HIS  EVIL  HEART. 

There  are  two  ways,  my  friends,  in  which  the  great 
enemy  and  deceiver  of  men  endeavors,  and  alas  !  but 
too  successfully,  to  effect  their  eternal  ruin.  In  the  first 
place,  he  labors,  by  a  variety  of  artifices,  to  lull  them 
asleep  in  false  security  and  presumption.  With  this 
view,  he  leads  them  to  pervert  and  abuse  the  gracious 
promises  and  invitations  of  the  gospel ;  insinuates  that 
God  is  too  merciful  to  destroy  his  creatures ;  that  his 
threatenings  will  never  be  executed,  and  that  all  will 
finally  obtain  salvation.  If  he  finds  any  one  who  can- 
not be  persuaded  to  believe  these  falsehoods,  he  sug- 
gests to  them  that  religion  is  indeed  important,  but  that 
it  is  unnecessary  to  think  of  it  at  present ;  that  they 
have  yet  sufficient  time  for  repentance,  that  they  are 
less  guilty  than  many  others  who  have  obtained  mercy  ; 
and  that  it  will  be  easy  for  them  to  become  religious 
hereafter,  and  secure  a  title  to  heaven  before  death  ar- 
rives. This  method  he  pursues,  principally  with  the 
young  and  thoughtless,  and  with  those  who  abstain  from 
gross  vices,  and  pay  some  regard  to  the  externals  of  re- 
ligion. By  these  artifices  he  induces  them  to  defer  re- 
pentance to  a  more  convenient  season ;  robs  them  of 


THE  SIN,  DANGER,  &C. 


155 


their  most  precious  opportunities,  and  leads  them  farther 
and  farther  from  God  and  happiness. 

In  the  second  place,  when  these  artifices  begin  to  fail, 
he  endeavors  to  drive  men  to  despair.  This  method  he 
pursues  with  the  aged,  with  the  openly  vicious  and 
abandoned,  and  with  such  also  as  have  long  enjoyed 
the  means  of  grace,  often  experienced,  but  resisted,  the 
influences  of  God's  Spirit.  To  such  he  whispers,  that 
it  is  too  late  ;  that  their  sins  are  too  great  to  be  forgiv- 
en ;  that  their  day  of  grace  is  past ;  that  God  has  given 
them  up  to  a  reprobate  mind,  and  that  there  is  no  mercy 
for  them.  Hence  he  infers  that  it  is  in  vain  for  them 
now  to  think  of  religion,  or  use  any  means  to  obtain  it ; 
that,  since  they  must  perish  it  is  better  for  them  to 
plunge  into  sin  without  restraint,  and  enjoy  all  the  hap- 
piness which  the  world  can  afford.  Thus  he  tempted 
Judas  to  destroy  himself.  Thus  he  tempted  those  who 
said,  Let  us  eat  and  drink,  for  tomorrow  we  die ;  and 
thus  also  he  tempted  those  whose  language  is  recorded 
in  our  text.  When  the  prophet,  in  the  name  of  God, 
warned  them  of  approaching  judgment,  and  urged  them 
to  return  from  their  evil  ways ;  instead  of  complying, 
they  despairingly  exclaimed,  There  is  no  hope  !  we 
will,  therefore,  walk  after  our  own  devices,  and  we  will 
every  one  do  the  imagination  of  his  evil  heart.  This 
desperate  resolution  they  executed,  and^destruction  was 
the  consequence. 

In  a  similar  manner,  there  is  reason  to  fear,  the  temp- 
ter deceives  and  ruins  some  at  the  present  day.  It  is 
probable,  however,  that  the  number  thus  ruined  is 
comparatively  small.  So  clearly  does  the  Sun  of  Right- 
eousness shine  upon  us ;  so  encouraging  are  the  pre- 
cious promises  of  the  gospel,  and  so  numerous  the  in- 
stances in  which  even  the  vilest  of  sinners  have  obtained 
mercy,  that  probably  very  few  finally  perish  in  conse- 
quence of  despondency.  The  opposite  extreme  is  by 
far  the  most  ruinous  ;  for  presumption  and  false  hopes 
destroy,  perhaps,  hundreds,  where  despair  of  obtaining 
mercy  proves  fatal  to  one.    Still  it  is  possible  that 


156 


THE  SIN,  DANGER,  AND 


there  may  be  some  among  us,  whom  the  tempter  has 
entangled  in  this  snare.  It  is  possible,  though  unknown 
to  us,  that  there  may  be  at  least  one  person  in  this  as- 
sembly, who  is  saying  respecting  himself,  There  is  no 
hope  ;  I  have  sinned  so  long,  so  often,  and  with  so  many 
aggravations,  that  I  cannot  be  forgiven  ;  my  heart  is  so 
hard,  that  it  cannot  be  softened  ;  my  mind  so  dark,  that 
it  cannot  be  enlightened  ;  my  sinful  habits  and  propensi- 
ties so  deep-rooted  that  they  cannot  be  eradicated  ;  my 
attachment  to  sin  and  the  world  so  strong,  that  it  cannot 
be  overcome.  I  fear  that  I  am  not  one  whom  God  in- 
tends to  save  ;  my  day  of  grace  is  over ;  should  I  think 
of  seeking  religion,  it  would  be  now  in  vain ;  I  will  there- 
fore think  of  it  as  little  as  possible,  and  devote  myself 
to  the  pursuits  and  pleasures  of  the  world,  while  I  have 
opportunity  to  enjoy  them. 

Now,  my  friends,  if  there  is  only  one  person  present, 
whom  the  great  deceiver  has  entangled  in  this  snare, 
it  is  our  duty  to  attempt  to  deliver  him  from  it ;  and 
could  we  succeed,  we  should  be  richly  repaid  for 
preaching,  not  only  one,  but  ten  thousand  sermons.  If 
there  be  one  such  person  present,  one  who  feels  that 
what  has  been  said  describes  his  character,  let  him 
feel  that  this  discourse  is  preached  on  purpose  for  him  ; 
that  to  him  every  word  is  addressed  ;  and  do  you,  my 
Christian  friends,  who  have  a  hope  of  glory,  pray  that 
the  Spirit  of  God  may  single  him  out,  and  enable  him 
to  hear,  to  hope,  and  live ;  while  we  attempt  to  con- 
vince him,  that  it  is  at  once  sinful,  dangerous  and  un- 
reasonable, in  the  highest  degree,  to  despair  of  God's 
mercy  ;  to  say  that  there  is  no  hope. 
I.  To  despair  of  God's  mercy  is  sinful. 
The  ancient  divines  were  accustomed  to  call  despair 
one  of  the  seven  deadly  sins.  That  it  well  deserves 
this  character,  is  evident  from  its  nature  and  effects. 
It  is  directly  contrary  to  the  will  of  God.  He,  we  are 
told,  taketh  pleasure  in  tbem  that  fear  him,  and  hope  in 
his  mercy.  He  must,  therefore,  be  displeased  with 
them  that  refuse  to  do  this.    It  is  also  a  great  insult  to 


UNREASONABLENESS  OF  DESPAIR.  157 

character  of  God.    It  calls  in  question  the  truth  of  his 
word  ;  nay  it  gives  him  the  lie  ;  for  he  has  told  us  that 
whosoever  cometh  to  him,  he  will  in  no  wise  cast  out. 
But  the  language  of  despair  is,  He  will  cast  me  out, 
though  I  should  come  to  him.    It  calls  in  question,  or 
rather  denies  the  greatness  of  his  mercy.    He  has  told 
us  that  his  mercy  is  infinite ;  that  it  is  from  everlasting  to 
everlasting  ;  but  the  language  of  despair  is,  My  sins  are 
beyond  the  reach  of  God's  mercy,  and  therefore  it  is  not 
infinite.    It  also  limits  the  power  of  God.    He  has  said. 
Is  any  thing  too  hard  for  me?    With  God  nothing  is 
impossible.    But  despair  says,  There  are  some  things 
which  are  too  hard  for  God ;  some  things  which  it  is 
impossible  for  him  to  perform.    It  is  impossible  that  he 
should  renew  my  heart,  subdue  my  will,  and  make  me 
fit  for  heaven.    Thus  despair  limits  or  denies  all  God's 
perfections,  and,  of  consequence,  greatly  insults  and  pro- 
vokes him.    Despair  is  also  contrary  to  the  Spirit  of 
God.    The  three  principal  graces  of  the  Spirit  are  faith, 
hope  and  love.    But  despair  is  opposed  to  them  all. 
That  it  is  opposed  to  faith  in  God's  promises,  we  have 
already  seen  ;  that  it  is  opposed  to  hope,  is  evident  from 
its  very  nature ;  and  a  little  reflection  will  convince  us, 
that  it  is  equally  inconsistent  with  love.    To  sum  up  all 
in  one  word,  despair  includes  in  itself  the  very  essence 
both  of  impenitence  and  unbelief.    It  contains  in  itself 
the  essence  of  impenitence  ;  for  it  seals  up  the  heart  in 
a  sullen,  obstinate,  unyielding  frame,  so  that  those  who 
are  under  its  influence  cannot  breathe  one  penitential 
sigh,  or  shed  a  single  penitential  tear.    This  effect  it 
has  on  the  devils.    This  effect  it  will  produce  in  all  the 
wicked  at  the  judgment  day.    Hence  it  is  directly  op- 
posed to  that  broken  heart  and  contrite  spirit,  in  which 
true  repentance  essentially  consists.    It  also  contains  in 
itself  the  very  essence  of  unbelief ;  for  it  shuts  up  the 
heart  against  all  the  promises  of  the  gospel ;  against  all 
the  invitations  of  Christ ;  against  all  the  revelations  which 
God  has  made  of  his  mercy,  and  represents  him  as  a 
severe,  inexorable,  arbitrary  tyrant,  whom  it  is  vain  to 
14 


158 


THE  Sm,  DANGEH,  AND 


endeavor  to  please.  But  unbelief  and  impenitence  are 
every  where  represented  as  sins  exceedingly  great  and 
provoking  to  God.  How  offensive,  how  provoking, 
then  must  be  that  despair,  which  includes  in  itself  the 
essence  of  both  these  aggravated  sins  ! 

Again  ;  despair  is  not  only  exceedingly  sinful  in  itself, 
but  the  cause  or  parent  of  many  other  sins.  As  hope 
leads  all  who  entertain  it  to  endeavor  to  purify  them- 
selves, even  as  Christ  is  pure,  so  despair,  the  opposite 
of  hope,  leads  all  who  are  under  its  influence  to  wander 
farther  and  farther  from  God,  and  plunge  without  re- 
straint into  every  kind  of  wickedness.  This  effect  it 
had  upon  Cain.  Instead  of  repenting  and  imploring 
pardon  of  God  for  the  murder  of  his  brother,  he  de- 
parted from  the  presence  of  the  Lord,  from  all  the  re- 
ligious privileges  and  instruction  of  his  father's  house  into 
the  land  of  Nod  ;  there  by  plunging  into  worldly  and  sin- 
ful pursuits,  he  endeavored  to  mitigate  the  anguish  of  his 
mind,  and  drive  from  it  all  thoughts  of  God  and  religion. 
A  similar  effect  it  had  upon  Saul.  Despair  of  obtaining 
help  from  God  led  him  to  seek  relief  from  witches  and 
evil  spirits,  and  finally  to  throw  himself  on  his  own  sword. 
Equally  awful  were  its  effects  upon  Judas,  whom  it  led 
to  self-murder,  as  it  probably  has  thousands  since.  The 
reason  why  despair  should  thus  operate  is  evident. 
Take  away  from  men  all  hope  of  obtaining  any  object, 
;lnd  they  will  never  pursue  it,  but  turn  their  attention  to 
something  else.  So  take  away  from  men  all  hope  of 
heaven ;  let  them  be  fully  convinced  that  it  is  not  for 
them,  that  their  day  of  grace  is  past,  that  their  doom  is 
fixed,  and  that  repentance  will  avail  nothing  to  alter  it ; 
and,  of  course,  they  will  never  repent ;  for  they  will  feel 
no  encouragement  to  do  it,  see  no  reason  why  they 
should  attempt  it.  On  the  contrary,  they  will  turn  their 
attention  to  worldly  and  sinful  pursuits,  and  endeavor  by 
intemperance,  or  in  some  other  equally  dangerous  way, 
to  banish  all  thoughts  of  God  and  religion  entirely  from 
their  minds.  And  when  all  their  restraints  are  taken  off; 
when  they  imagine  that  nothing  will  render  their  situa- 


UNREASONABLENESS  OF  DESPAIR. 


159 


tion  better,  and  that  nothing  which  they  may  do  can 
make  it  worse,  the  corruption  of  their  hearts  will  have 
full  room  and  liberty  to  operate,  and  will  plunge  them 
into  every  kind  of  wickedness. 

II.  Despair  of  God's  mercy  is  dangerous.  If  it  be 
sinful  it  must  be  so ;  for  all  sin  is  in  its  nature  and  ten- 
dency highly  dangerous.  But  despair  of  God's  mercy 
is  a  sin  which  is  .dangerous  in  the  highest  degree.  When 
a  man  gives  himself  up  to  this  sin,  he  does,  as  it  were, 
give  himself  up  to  the  power  and  guidance  of  the  devil ; 
for  he  voluntarily  throws  away  every  thing  which  can 
protect  or  deliver  him  from  the  adversary.  He  throws 
away  his  Saviour  ;  he  throws  away  God's  mercy  ;  he 
throws  away  the  promises ;  he  throws  away  the  whole 
gospel  of  Christ ;  he  throws  away  all  hopes  and  thoughts 
of  salvation,  and  consequently  all  endeavors  to  obtain  it ; 
for  while  he  despairs  of  God's  mercy,  it  is  the  same  to 
him  as  if  God  had  no  mercy ;  while  he  despairs  of 
Christ's  ability  or  willingness  to  save,  it  is  the  same  to 
him  as  if  Christ  had  no  power  or  disposition  to  save  ; 
and  while  he  believes  that  the  promises  and  invitations 
of  the  gospel  are  not  for  him  to  embrace,  it  is  the  same 
to  him  as  if  there  were  no  gospel.  All  these  things, 
therefore,  the  despairing  sinner  throws  away ;  and  when 
they  are  gone,  what  is  there  left  ?  to  what  guide  can  he 
commit  himself?  Nothing  remains,  but  a  deceitful, 
malignant  adversary,  and  a  desperately  wicked  heart, 
both  combined  to  mislead  and  destroy  him.  Yet  to  the 
guidance  of  these  two  fatal  enemies  every  despairing 
sinner  commits  himself.  Need  any  thing  more  be  said, 
to  prove  that  to  despair  of  God's  mercy,  is  dangerous 
in  the  highest  degree. 

III.  Despair  of  God's  mercy  is  no  less  groundless 
and  unreasonable,  than  it  is  sinful  and  dangerous. 

1.  In  the  first  place,  it  is  unreasonable  to  despair  of 
God's  mercy,  because  he  continues  to  you  the  enjoy- 
ment of  life,  and  the  means  of  grace.  It  is  true  that, 
with  respect  to  some,  the  day  of  grace  ends  before  the 
close  of  life,  and  their  lives  are  preserved  only  that  they 


160 


THE  SIN,  DANGER,  AND 


may  fill  up  the  measure  of  their  iniquities,  and  treasure 
up  wrath  against  the  day  of  wrath.    But  such  persons 
are  given  over  to  a  reprobate  mind,  and  left  to  strong  de- 
lusion, that  they  may  believe  a  lie.    God  has  said,  Let 
them  alone.    His  Spirit  has  forsaken  them  ;  conscience 
does  not  warn  them  $  they  seldom  think  of  their  danger, 
and  are  usually  much  more  inclined  to  presumption  than 
to  despair.    But  we  are  now  addressing  those,  who  do 
think  of  their  situation,  whose  consciences  do  warn  and 
admonish  them  ;  and  with  respect  to  such  we  may  gen- 
erally say,   that,  while  there  is  life,  there  is  hope ; 
for  is  not  life  a  time  of  probation,  a  season,  of  grace, 
an  opportunity  given   us  on  purpose   to   make  our 
peace  with  God?    How  unreasonable  then,  is  it  to 
despair  of  mercy;  while  this  season,  this  opportunity  of 
obtaining  mercy  is  afforded  ;  unless  you  are  determined 
not  to  improve  it.    The  precious  privileges  which  you 
enjoy,  while  this  season  continues,  render  despair  still 
more  unreasonable.    What  walls  are  these  which  sur- 
round you  ?    Are  they  not  the  walls  of  God's  house,  a 
place  where  he  has  recorded  his  name,  and  respecting 
which  he  says,  Wherever  I  record  my  name,  there  will 
I  meet  with  you  and  bless  you  ?    What  light  is  this  which 
shines  around  you  ?    Is  it  not  the  light  of  the  Sabbath, 
of  the  day  which  the  Lord  has  made,  in  which  we  have 
reason  to  rejoice  and  be  glad  ?    What  volume  is  this 
before  you  ?    Is  it  not  the  word  of  God  in  which  he  re- 
veals his  grace  and  mercy  to  perishing  sinners  ?  What 
sound  is  this  which  now  fills  your  ears  ?    Is  it  not  the 
sound  of  the  gospel  which  brings  life,  and  peace,  and 
pardon,  to  all  who  believe  and  obey  it  ?    And  will  you 
then  say,  There  is  no  hope,  while  the  walls  of  God's 
house  encircle  you,  while  the  light  of  the  Sabbath  shines 
upon  you,  while  the  word  of  God  is  before  you,  and  while 
the  gospel  of  salvation  sounds  in  your  ears  ?    Do  they 
not  all  conspire  to  prove,  that,  though  you  are  prisoners, 
you  are  prisoners  of  hope  ;  and  that  there  is  still  hope 
concerning  you,  if  you  will  not  neglect  or  put  it  from 
you  in  despair  ? 


UNREASONABLENESS  OF  DESPAIR.  161 

2.  The  character  of  God,  as  revealed  in  his  word, 
shows  that  it  is  unreasonable  for  you  to  despair  of  his 
mercy.    It  is  true  that  the  description  which  the  Scrip- 
tures give  us  of  his  character,  is  most  perfectly  suited  to 
lead  you  to  despair  of  obtaining  his  favor  by  your  own 
works,  or  of  tasting  his  mercy  while  you  obstinately  per- 
sist in  sin.    But  it  is  also  true,  that  it  is  no  less  perfect- 
ly suited  to  excite  hope  in  the  breasts  of  all  who  see  the 
impossibility  of  saving  themselves  ;  who  feel  the  burden 
and  fetters  of  sin,  and  have  the  smallest  desire  to  escape 
from  its  power.    This  the  psalmist  well  knew :  They 
that  know  God's  name,  says  he,  that  is,  they  who  are 
acquainted  with  his  character,  will  put  their  trust  in  him. 
They  cannot  despair  or  despond  ;  they  cannot  but  hope 
in  his  mercy.    The  fact  is,  that  despondency,  as  well  as 
presumption,  arises  from  ignorance  of  God.  Ignorance 
of  his  justice,  truth,  and  holiness,  leads  to  presumption  ; 
and  ignorance  of  his  mercy,  love,  and  grace,  leads  to 
despair.    If  we  would  be  kept  from  both  these  danger- 
ous extremes  ;  if  we  would  at  the  same  time  fear  him, 
and  hope  in  his  mercy,  we  must  contemplate  the  differ- 
ent perfections  of  his  character  together,  and  not  view 
them  separately,  as  we  are  prone  to  do.    This  the 
method  pursued  by  the  inspired  writers  naturally  leads 
us  to  do.    They  very  frequently  set  before  us  God's 
justice  and  mercy,  his  greatness  and  ^condescension  in 
the  same  passage.    When  to  deter  us  from  presumption 
they  declare,  that  God  will  by  no  means  clear  the  guilty^ 
they  tell  us  in  the  same  verse,  that  he  is  merciful  and 
gracious,  that  we  may  not  despair.    When  they  tell  us 
that  God  is  high,  they  immediately  subjoin,  Yet  hath  he 
respect  unto  the  lowly.    When  they  inform  us  that  he  is 
a  God  of  vengeance,  they  are  careful  to  assure  us  in  the 
same  chapter,  that  he  is  good  to  them  that  trust  in  him. 
When  they  describe  him  as  the  high  and  lofty  One,  who 
inhabiteth  eternity,  they  add,  he  dwelleth  with  him  who 
is  of  a  humble  and  contrite  spirit,  to  revive  the  spirit  of 
the  humble,  and  the  heart  of  the  contrite  ones.  While 
they  declare  that  the  soul  that  sinneth  shall  die,  they  en- 
14* 


162 


THE   SIN,  DANGER,  AND 


courage  us  to  repent  and  turn  from  our  sins  by  the  assu- 
rance, that  God  has  no  pleasure  in  the  death  of  the 
wicked,  but  that  the  wicked  turn  from  his  evil  way  and 
live.  Still  farther  to  secure  us  from  despair,  they  in- 
form us,  that  God  is  love,  that  nothing  is  too  hard  for 
him,  that  his  mercy  endureth  for  ever,  and  that  he  is  a 
sovereign  God  who  can  have  mercy  on  whom  he  will 
have  mercy.  Surely  then,  the  character  of  God  renders 
it  in  the  highest  degree  unreasonable  to  despair  of  salva- 
tion, unless  we  are  determined  to  gO  on  in  sin,  or  to  per- 
sist in  seeking  salvation  by  the  works  of  the  law. 

3.  The  grand  scheme  of  redemption  revealed  in  the 
gospel,  renders  it  still  more  unreasonable  to  indulge 
despair.  This  scheme  God  has  devised  and  revealed, 
on  purpose  to  glorify  himself  in  displaying  the  unsearch- 
able riches  of  his  mercy  and  grace.  Here  he  reveals 
himself  as  the  God  and  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
as  the  God  of  all  grace  and  consolation,  as  a  God  who 
so  loved  the  world  as  to  give  his  only  begotten  Son  to 
die  for  its  redemption.  By  the  sufferings  and  death  of 
his  Son  he  is  reconciling  the  world  to  himself,  not  impu- 
ting to  the  penitent  their  trespasses.  The  mountains  of 
guilt  and  transgression  which  interrupted  the  streams  of 
his  beneficence  are  removed,  so  that  they  can  now  flow 
and  are  flowing  out  to  us  in  floods  of  enlightening,  par- 
doning, and  sanctifying  grace.  None  of  God's  perfec- 
tions now  forbid  him  to  pardon  penitent  sinners ;  for  in 
the  scheme  of  redemption,  mercy  and  truth  meet  togeth- 
er, righteousness  and  peace  embrace  each  other ;  God 
can  now  be  just  in  justifying  those  who  believe  in  Jesus. 
Nay  more,  his  justice,  faithfulness,  and  truth,  which 
once  stood  in  the  way  of  our  salvation,  now  bind  him  to 
forgive  and  save  all  who  confess,  and  repent  of  their  sins. 
Surely,  then,  the  gospel  of  Christ  affords  sufficient  en- 
couragement to  animate  the  hopes  of  the  most  guilty, 
desponding  sinner  on  earth,  and  render  it  in  the  highest 
degree  unreasonable  for  any  to  despair  of  salvation  who 
are  not  determined  to  reject  it. 


UNREASONABLENESS  OF  DESPAIR.  163 


4.  The  person,  character,  and  invitations  of  Christ, 
show  in  the  most  striking  and  conclusive  manner,  that 
despair  of  salvation  is  unreasonable.  When  God  provi- 
ded a  Saviour  for  us,-  he  intended  to  provide  one  whose 
character  should  be  a  complete  antidote  to  despair,  as- 
well  as  to  all  other  evils.  Accordingly,  the  person  and 
character  of  his  Son  Christ  Jesus  are  as  perfectly  calcu- 
lated, as  any  thing  possibly  can  be,  to  banish  despair, 
and  excite  confidence  and  hope.  He  is  at  once  the  Son 
of  God,  and  the  Son  of  Man.  He  is  allied  to  heaven  by 
his  divinity,  and  to  earth  by  humanity  ;  and  consequent- 
ly unites  in  himself  every  thing  that  is  amiable,  admira- 
ble, or  excellent,  in  the  nature  of  God  and  in  the  na- 
ture of  man.  Though  he  is  the  Son  of  the  Highest,  he 
is  not  ashamed  to  be  called  the  friend  and  brother  of  the 
lowest ;  nay,  he  glories  in  the  title  of  the  sinner's  Friend. 
While  his  infinite  wisdom,  knowledge,  and  power,  ren- 
der him  able  to  save  even  to  the  uttermost  all  that  come 
unto  God  by  him,  his  no  less  infinite  compassion,  conde- 
scension, and  love,  render  him  as  willing,  as  he  is  able  to 
save.  To  all  who  believe,  he  is  made  of  God  wisdom, 
and  righteousness,  and  sanctification,  and  redemption, 
His  blood,  which  speaks  better  things  than  the  blood  of 
Abel,  cleanses  from  all  sin.  His  Spirit  can  enlighten  the 
most  ignorant,  subdue  the  most  stubborn  and  sanctify 
the  most  polluted,  and  break  the  strongest  fetter  in  which 
sin  and  the  world  ever  bound  the  soul.  The  streams  of 
his  grace  flow,  free  and  uncircumscribed,  as  the  light  of 
the  sun  or  the  air  of  heaven.  His  language  is,  Let  him 
that  heareth  come  ;  and  let  him  that  thirsteth  come  ;  and 
whosoever  will,  let  him  come  and  take  the  water  of  life 
freely  ;  and  whosoever  eometh,  I  will  in  no  wise  cast 
out.  In  short,  it  is  a  faithful  saying,  a  true  saying,  and 
worthy  of  universal  acceptation  and  belief,  that  Jesus 
Christ  came  into  this  world  to  save  sinners,  even  the 
chief;  and  for  any  one  who  believes  this  saying,  for  any 
one  who  contemplates  Christ's  character,  and  listens  to 
his  invitation,  to  despair  of  salvation,  is  as  impossible,  as 
for  a  man  to  walk  in  darkness,  who,  with  open  eyes  be- 


164 


THE  SIN,  DANGER,  AND 


holds  the  light  of  the  meridian  sun.  One  glimpse  of  his 
person  and  character  is  life  to  hope,  and  death  to  de- 
spondency. How  unreasonable,  then,  is  it,  with  such  a 
Saviour  before  us,  for  any  to  despair,  unless  they  are 
determined  to  reject  him. 

Lastly ;  that  it  is  unreasonable  to  despair  of  God's 
mercy,  is  evident  from  the  characters  of  many  to  whom 
it  has  already  been  extended.    Look  at  Manasseh.  He 
sinned  against  God  above  all  that  were  in  Jerusalem  be- 
fore him,  so  that  he  seemed  to  have  sold  himself  to  com- 
mit iniquity.    In  addition  to  this,  he  was  a  murderer,  a 
man  stained  with  many  murders  ;  for  we  are  told  that 
he  shed  innocent  blood  very  much,  till  he  had  filled  Jer- 
usalem from  one  end  to  the  other.    But  in  his  afHiction 
he  humbled  himself  greatly  before  the  God  of  his  fath- 
ers, and  besought  him,  and  prayed  to  him ;  and  God 
was  entreated  of  him,  and  heard  his  supplications.  Look 
at  St.  Paul.    He  was  a  blasphemer,  and  bloody  perse- 
cutor of  the  people  of  God  ;  one  who  breathed  nothing 
but  threatenings  and  slaughter  against  his  church,  and 
compelled  many  of  them  to  blaspheme.    Yet  he  repent- 
ed and  obtained  mercy  ;  and  he  intimates  that  mercy 
was  shewed  him  for  a  pattern,  and  encouragement  to 
those  who  should  come  after  him,  to  believe  in  Christ. 
Look  at  the  Corinthian  church.    Some  of  you,  says  the 
apostle    to   them,    were  fornicators,   and  idolaters, 
and   adulterers,    and    thieves,    and    covetous,  and 
drunkards,  and  revilers,  and  extortioners ;  but,  he  adds, 
ye  are  washed,  but  ye  are  justified,  but  ye  are  sanctified, 
in  the  name  of  our  Lord  Jesus,  and  by  the  Spirit  of  our 
God.    Such,  my  friends,  are  some  of  the  instances  re- 
corded in  the  Bible,  in  which  the  greatest  and  vilest  of- 
fenders obtained  mercy  on  repentance.    Who  then  will 
say,  that  it  is  not  highly  unreasonable  for  any  to  despair 
unless  they  are  determined  not  to  repent  ?    Who  can 
reasonably  say,  there  is  no  hope  for  me,  when  such  char- 
acters as  these,  through  repentance,  faith,  and  patience, 
are  even  now  inheriting  the  promises? 


UNREASONABLENESS  OJ"  DESPAIR.  165 


Permit  me  now  to  ask,  my  friends,  whether  any  of 
you  are  saying  this  ?  Are  there  any  present,  who  are 
deterred  from  seeking  salvation  by  nothing  but  discour- 
agement and  despondency  ;  any  who  are  saying  in  their 
hearts,  We  would  attend  seriously  to  religion,  did  we 
not  fear  that  it  will  be  to  no  purpose  ?  If  any  such  there 
are,  they  are  the  very  persons  whom  we  now  address. 
You  have  heard,  my  irresolute,  desponding  friends,  how 
sinful,  how  dangerous,  and  how  unreasonable  it  is  to 
say,  There  is  no  hope.  Why  then  will  you  say  it  ? 
why  should  you  think  that  it  will  be  vain  for  you  to  at- 
tend to  religion  ?  Will  you  say,  I  fear  that,  though  God 
is  merciful,  there  is  no  mercy  for  me  ?  You  have  heard 
that  there  is  mercy  for  the  vilest,  if  they  will  repent. 
Will  you  say,  I  fear  that  I  am  not  one  of  those  whom 
God  means  to  save?  If  you  are  determined  to  perse- 
vere in  unbelief  aud  despondency,  you  have  reason  to 
fear  this  ;  but  if  you  begin  sincerely  to  seek  after  God, 
you  will  have  reason  to  hope  that  he  means  to  save  you  ; 
and  if  you  repent  and  believe  the  gospel,  you  may  be 
sure  that  he  does.  Will  you  say,  I  know  not  how  to 
begin  ;  if  I  study  the  Bible,  it  appears  dark  and  difficult 
to  understand  ;  and  when  I  listen  to  the  preached  word, 
it  is  the  same  ?  This  is  because  you  do  not  look  to 
Christ  for  wisdom  and  instruction.  He  is  able  and  will- 
ing to  give  us  his  Spirit  to  lead  our  minds  into  all  truth. 
Will  you  say,  I  have  often  resolved  and  endeavored  to 
be  religious ;  but  my  resolutions  have  been  broken ; 
my  endeavors  have  been  vain  ;  and  I  fear  that,  should 
I  make  another  attempt,  it  would  avail  nothing.  But 
your  resolutions  and  attempts  were  made  in  dependance 
on  your  own  strength.  It  was  therefore  to  be  expected 
that  they  would  fail ;  for  Christ  says,  Without  me  ye 
can  do  nothing.  But  make  another  attempt  depending 
on  his  strength,  and  looking  to  him  for  assistance,  and 
it  will  not  be  unsuccessful,  Will  you  say,  My  will  is  so 
stubborn,  my  heart  is  so  hard,  and  my  mind  so  entapg* 
led  by  the  love  of  the  world  and  the  fear  of  man,  that  I 
dare  not  hope  for  success  ?   But  did  not  Christ  come 


166 


THE  SIN,  DANGER,  AND 


to  deliver  us  from  this  world,  to  preach  deliverance  to 
the  captives,  to  set  at  liberty  them  that  are  bruised  ? 
Has  he  not  done  this  for  thousands  already  ;  and  is  he 
not  equally  able  to  do  it  for  you  ?  Will  you  say,  I  have 
difficulties  and  temptations  to  encounter,  such :  as  no 
other  person  ever  had  ;  and  therefore,  I  fear  there  is 
no  hope  ?  Even  if  this  is  the  case,  it  affords  no  reason 
for  despondency ;  for  Christ  is  able  to  remove  all  dif- 
ficulties, and  overcome  all  temptations  ?  Have  you  not 
heard  that  nothing  is  too  hard  for  him  ?  Will  you  say,  I 
know  Christ  is  able  to  save  me  ;  but  I  have  so  often 
grieved  his  Spirit,  so  long  neglected  his  invitations,  that 
I  fear  he  will  now  afford  me  no  assistance  ?  But  is  he 
not  even  now  bestowing  upon  you  many  blessings,  not- 
withstanding this  ?  Is  he  not  preserving  your  life,  per- 
mitting you  to  hear  the  gospel,  and  inviting  you  by  his 
ministers,  to  come  and  receive  salvation  ?  If  your  un- 
worthiness  does  not  prevent  him  from  bestowing  these 
favors  upon  you,  why  should  you  fear  that  he  will  with- 
hold his  assistance  in  subduing  your  sins  ?  Has  he  not 
said,  Him  that  cometh  unto  me  I  will  in  no  wise  cast  out  ? 

And  now,  my  desponding  friends,  what  more  will 
you  say  to  justify  your  despondency  ?  Wrhat  moro  in- 
deed can  you  say  ?  What  can  you  say  of  yourselves 
more  discouraging  than  this,  that  you  are  entirely  sin- 
ful, and  guilty,  and  poor,  and  wretched,  and  blind,  and 
naked  ?  True  you  are  so,  Christ  knows  that  you  are 
so  ;  and  his  language  is,  1  counsel  thee  to  buy  of  me 
gold,  tried  in  the  fire,  that  thou  mayest  be  rich,  and 
white  raiment  that  thou  mayest  be  clothed.  Will  you 
say,  I  have  nothing  to  buy  with  ?  Christ  bestows  them 
without  money  or  price.  Permit  me  to  remind  you  of 
the  value  of  what  he  thus  bestows.  Let  me  bring  down 
from  heaven  that  reward  which  he  offers  to  those  who 
embrace  him.  In  this  world  it  is  pardon  of  sins,  peace 
of  conscience,  peace  with  God,  the  restoration  of  his  im- 
age, joy  unspeakable,  support  under  trials,  victory  over 
all  enemies  including  death  and  the  grave  ;  in  a  word, 
all  good  things.    In  the  world  to  come,  it  is  perfect  holi- 


wNREASONABLENESS  OF  DESPAIR.  167 


ness,  full  enjoyment,  everlasting  life,  an  eternal  weight 
of  glory,  an  immoveable  throne,  an  unfading  crown,  a 
state  of  complete,  never-ending,  perpetually  increasing 
glory  and  felicity.  Such,  my  friends,  are  the  rewards 
set  before  you.  It  is  yet  possible ;  nay,  there  is  yet 
reason  to  hope,  that  you  may  obtain  them.  And  are 
they  not  desirable?  Are  they  not  worth  pursuing? 
Arise,  then  ;  we  call  upon  you  in  the  name  of  God, 
arise,  and  in  the  strength  of  Christ,  pursue  them.  Lose 
no  time  in  despondency.  Say  not,  There  is  no  hope. 
We  have  shewn  that  you  have  no  reason  to  say  this.  If 
you  will  persist  in  saying  it,  it  is  only  an  excuse ;  an  ex- 
cuse for  neglecting  that  religion,  which  you  are  unwilling 
to  embrace.  It  is  not  for  want  of  encouragement,  it  is 
for  want  of  a  disposition,  that  you  refuse  to  pursue  the 
one  thing  needful.  Let  none  then,  after  this,  complain 
that  there  is  nothing  to  encourage  them.  God  has  given 
them  every  thing  necessary  for  their  encouragement ; 
every  thing  calculated  to  rouse  them  from  despair.  If 
then  any  persist  in  despair,  and  perish,  God  will  be 
guiltless,  their  blood  will  be  upon  them. 

But  while  we  are  attempting  to  justify  God,  and  leave 
sinners  without  excuse  ;  and  while  we  would  do  every 
thing  in  our  power  to  encourage  the  desponding  and 
support  the  weak,  it  is  also  necessary  to  guard  against 
the  perversions  of  such  as  would  derive^  from  it  encour- 
agement to  hope  for  heaven  while  they  continue  in  sin. 
It  is  possible  that  some  present  may  be  hardened  in  their 
presumption  by  the  very  means  which  have  been  em- 
ployed to  keep  others  from  despair.  They  may  say, 
since  there  is  so  much  reason  to  hope,  and  since  it  is  so 
wrong  to  despair,  we  will  hope  for  the  best,  and  not  de- 
spair of  salvation,  though  we  should  continue  a  little 
longer  in  sin.  If  any  are  saying  this,  if  any  are  thus 
poisoning  themselves  with  the  waters  of  life,  I  do  most 
solemnly  protest  against  this  perversion,  this  abuse  of  the 
grace  of  God,  and  warn  them  of  its  danger.  This  is 
what  the  apostle  calls  making  Christ  the  minister  of  sin, 
and  turning  the  grace  of  God  into  wantonness  ;  and  the 


168 


THE  SIN,  DANGER,  &C 


end  of  those  who  are  guilty  of  it  will  be  according  to 
their  works.  They  can  derive  no  excuse  for  doing  this 
from  what  has  been  said ;  for  not  a  syllable  has  been 
uttered  which  tends,  if  rightly  understood,  to  afford  the 
smallest  hope  or  consolation  to.  those  who  persist  in  im- 
penitence and  unbelief.  If  any  such  still  pretend,  from 
what  has  been  said,  to  hope  in  God's  mercy,  I  would 
remind  them  of  the  words  of  the  apostle ;  Whosoever 
hath  this  hope  in  him,  purifieth  himself,  even  as  Christ 
is  pure. 


SERMON  XII. 

The  Stubborn  Sinner  submitting  to  God, 


JEREMIAH  XXXI.  18,  19,  20. 

I  HAVE  SURELY  HEARD  EPHRAIM  BEMOANING  HIMSELF  THUS  J  THOU 
HAST  CHASTISED  ME,  AND  I  WAS  CHASTISED,  AS  A  BULLOCK  US- 
ACCUSTOMED  TO  THE  YOKE  :  TURN  THOU  ME,  AND  I  SHALL  BE 
TURNED  J  FOR  THOU  ART  THE  LORD  MY  GOD.  SURELY,  AFTER 
THAT  I  WAS  TURNED,  I  REPENTED  )  AND  AFTER  THAT  I  WAS  IN- 
STRUCTED, I  SMOTE  UPON  MY  THIGH  :  I  WAS  ASHAMED,  YEA,  EVER" 
CONFOUNDED,  BECAUSE  I  DID  BEAR  THE  REPROACH  OF  MY  VOUTH. 
tS  EPHRAIM  MY  DEAR  SON  ?  IS  HE  A  PLEASANT  CHILD  ?  FOR  SINCE 
I  SPOKE  AGAINST  HIM,  I  DO  EARNESTLY  REMEMBER  HIM  STILL  : 
THEREFORE  MY  BOWELS  ARE  TROUBLED  FOR  HIM  J  I  WILL  SURE- 
LY HAVE  MERCY  UPON  HIM,  SAITH  THE  LORD. 

These  verses,  my  friends,  may  be  considered  as  an 
epitome  or  abridgment  of  the  book  from  which  they  are 
taken.  The  obstinate  wickedness  of-  the  Israelites,  the 
dreadful  calamities  which  it  brought  upon  them,  and  the 
happy  effect  of  those  calamities  in  leading  some  of  them 
to  repentance,  and  thus  preparing  them  for  pardon,  are 
here  briefly,  but  clearly  and  most  affectingly  described. 
In  this  description,  my  friends,  we  are  deeply  interested ; 
for  since  the  human  heart,  the  nature  and  effects  of  re- 
pentance, the  character  of  God  and  the  methods  of  his 
proceedings,  are  ever  essentially  the  same,  it  is  evident 
that  every  thing  which  is  recorded  in  Scripture  respect- 
ing these  subjects  must  be  in  a  greater  or  less  degree 
applicable  to  us.  In  our  text  each  of  these  subjects  is 
more  or  less  distinctly  brought  into  view.  It  describes 
three  things,  with  which  it  is  necessary  that  we  should  he 
15 


170 


THE  STUBBORN  SINNER 


acquainted,  and  which  we  propose  particularly  to  con- 
sider in  the  following,  discourse. 

I.    We  have  here  a  description  of  the  feelings  and 
conduct  of  an  obstinate  impenitent  sinner,  while  smarting 
under  the  rod  of  affliction.    In  this  situation  he  is  like  a 
bullock  unaccustomed  to  the  yoke ;  wild,  unmanageable, 
and  perverse.    Such,  by  his  own  confession,  was  Eph- 
raim,  when  God  began  to  correct  him.    For  the  iniquity 
of  his  covetousness  was  I  Wroth  and  smote  him,  and  he 
went  on  frowardly  in  the  way  of  his  heart.    Such  were 
the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem.    Thy  sons,  says  the  proph- 
et to  her,  have  fainted  ;  they  lie  at  the  head  of  the 
streets,  like  a  wild  bull  in  a  net, — that  exhausts  his 
strength  in  fruitless  struggles  to  free  himself.    Such  too 
was  Paul,  when  first  arrested  by  conviction.    From  the 
language  in  which  Christ  addressed  him,  it  appears  that 
he  felt  disposed  to  struggle  and  resist,  like  a  stubborn 
bullock  that  kicks  at  the  goad,  and  thus  wounds  him- 
self, and  not  his  master.    And  such,  my  friends,  by  na- 
ture are  all  mankind.    Man,  says  an  inspired  writer,  is 
born  like  a  wild  ass's  colt.    His  proud,  wayward  tem- 
per, fond  of  liberty  and  unwilling  to  yield,  renders  it 
hard  for  him  to  submit,  and  exceedingly  difficult  to  sub- 
due him.    Hence  his  heart  is  frequently  represented  by 
the  inspired  writers,  as  being  froward  and  perverse.  To 
describe  him  in  one  word,  he  is  stout  hearted.    He  not 
only  possesses  this  temper,  but  glories  in  it, — as  a  proof 
of  courage,  independence,  and  nobleness  of  mind  ;  while 
to  confess  a  fault,  solicit  pardon,  submit  to  correction,  or 
yield  to  the  will  of  another,  are  viewed  by  him  as  marks 
of  disgraceful  weakness  and  pussillanimity. 

That  such  is  the  natural  temper  of  man,  must  be  evi- 
dent to  parents  and  all  others,  who  are  concerned  in  the 
education  of  children.  How  soon  do  they  begin  to  dis- 
cover a  perverse  and  stubborn  temper,  a  fondness  for 
independence,  and  a  desire  to  gratify  their  own  will  in 
every  thing  !  and  what  severe  punishments  will  they 
often  bear,  rather  than  submit  to  the  authority  of  their 
parents  and  instructers  !  This  disposition,  so  strong  in  us 


SUBMITTING  TO  GOD. 


171 


by  nature,  "  grows  with  our  growth,  and  strengthens 
with  our  strength and  to  subdue  it,  is  the  principal 
design  of  all  the  calamities  with  which  we  are  in  this 
world  afflicted  by  our  heavenly  Father.  As  the  disease 
is  constitutional,  inveterate,  and,  unless  removed,  fatal, 
the  afflictions  which  he  makes  use  of  as  remedies  are  va- 
rious., complicated  and  severe.  Sometimes  he  afflicts 
sinners  by  taking  away  their  property  and  sending  pov- 
erty, as  an  armed  man,  to  attack  them.  With  this, 
among  other  punishments,  he  threatens  the  Israelites 
who  in  our  text  are  spoken  of  as  an  individual :  I  will 
hedge  up  thy  way,  says  he,  with  thorns,  and  make  a  wall 
that  thou  shalt  not  find  thy  paths  ;  and  I  will  take  away 
my  corn  in  the  time  thereof,  and  my  wine  in  the  season 
thereof,  and  will  destroy  her  vines  and  fig-trees,  and 
cause  her  mirth  to  cease.  At  other  times  he  corrects 
us  by  depriving  us  of  our  relatives,  who  rendered  life 
pleasant,  by  sharing  with  us  its  joys,  or  helping  to  bear 
its  sorrows.  To  use  the  language  of  Scripture,  he  re- 
moves our  friends  into  darkness,  kills  our  children  with 
death,  or  takes  away  the  desire  of  our  eyes  with  a  stroke. 
If  these  afflictions  do  not  avail,  he  brings  the  rod  yet 
nearer,  and  touches  our  bone  and  our  flesh.  Then  the 
sinner  is  chastened  with  pain  upon  his  bed,  and  the  mul- 
titude of  his  bones  are  filled  with  strong  pain  ;  so  that 
his  life  abhorreth  bread,  and  his  souf  dainty  meat.  His 
flesh  is  consumed  away,  and  his  bones,  that  were  not 
seen,  stick  out ;  yea,  his  soul  draweth  near  to  the  grave, 
and  his  life  unto  the  destroyer.  All  these  outward  af- 
flictions are  also  frequently  accompanied  with  inward 
trials  and  sorrows,  still  more  severe.  Conscience  is 
awakened  to  perform  its  office,  and  fills  the  soul  with  ter- 
ror, anxiety,  and  remorse.  A  load  of  guilt,  a  sense  of 
God's  anger,  fears  of  death  and  judgment,  and  the  tu- 
multuous workings  of  passion,  pride,  enmity,  and  unbe- 
lief, torture  and  distract  the  mind  and  render  it  like  the 
troubled  sea  which  cannot  rest,  whose  waters  cast  up 
mire  and  dirt.  These  are  the  arrows  of  the  Almighty 
mentioned  by  Job,  which  enter  the  soul,  the  poison  of 


THE  STUBBORN  SINNER 


which  drinks  up  the  spirits,  as  a  fiery  dart  thrust  through 
the  body  dries  up  the  blood.  To  these  terrible  afflic- 
tions Solomon  alludes,  when  he  says,  The  spirit  of  a 
man  may  sustain  his  infirmity,  but  a  wounded  spirit  who 
can  bear? 

Now  when  God  visits  impenitent  sinners  with  these 
afflictions,  they  usually  murmur,  struggle,  and  reluctate, 
like  a  stubborn  bullock  unaccustomed  to  the  yoke,  or  a 
wild  bull  entangled  in  a  net.    This  indeed  is  not  always 

,  the  case.  Sometimes  they  continue  stupid,  careless, 
and  unconcerned,  because  they  do  not  realize  that  it  is 
God  who  afflicts  them  ;  but  like  the  Philistines,  when 
punished  for  detaining  the  ark,  suppose  that  it  is  only  a 
chance  that  has  happened  to  them,  with  which  God  has 
nothing  to  do.  At  other  times,  they  flatter  themselves 
that  God  is  correcting  them  for  their  good,  as  he  does 
his  children,  not  in  anger  but  in  mercy  ;  and  this  ground- 

-  less  opinion,  combined  with  a  fear  of  provoking  him  to 
punish  them  still  more  severely,  often  produces  a  kind 
of  selfish,  slavish  resignation  to  his  afflictive  dispensa- 
tions. In  addition  to  this,  it  may  be  observed,  that,  af- 
ter along  series  of  very  severe,  and  overwhelming  ca- 
lamities, sinners  sometimes  become  so  dejected  and 
depressed,  and  their  spirits  are  so  much  worn  down  by 
constant  suffering,  that  they  have  no  longer  any  strength 
to  struggle  or  resist ;  but  sink  into  a  desponding,  melan- 
choly frame,  and  appear  to  submit  to  affliction  because 
they  cannot  help  it.  But  though  their  stony  hearts  are 
thus  seemingly  broken,  yet  they  are  not  turned  to  flesh, 
but  like  the  fragments  of  a  broken  stone  remain  hard 
and  stony  still.  They  feel  something  like  sorrow  for 
the  sins  which  drew  down  afflictions  upon  them  ;  but  it  is 
that  worldly  sorrow,  mentioned  by  the  apostle,  which 
worketh  death.  But  if  we  except  these  instances,  which 
are  rare,  whenever  an  impenitent  sinner  realizes  that  it  is 
God  who  afflicts  him  ;  that  he  does  it  in  anger,  and  that 
he  will  perhaps  never  pardon  him,  he  will  invariably, 
like  Epbraim,  repine  and  struggle,  and  rebel,  under  af- 
flictions, and  will  not  unfrequently,  like  the  persons  men- 


SUBMITTING  TO  GOD. 


173 


tioned  in  the  Revelation,  blaspheme  God  -  because  of  his 
plagues. 

This  perverse  and  rebellious  temper  manifests  itself 
In  a  great  variety  of  ways,  as  persons'  circumstances, 
situation,  and  dispositions  vary.  Sometimes  it  displays 
itself  merely  in  a  refusal  to  submit,  and  a  sullen,  obstinate 
perseverance  in  those  sins  which  caused  the  affliction. 
Thus  it  was  with  those  of  whom  it  is  said,  They  cry 
not  when  God  bindeth  them ;  that  is,  they  were  like 
sullen,  obstinate  children,  who  scorn  to  reform,  or  weep, 
or  cry  for  pardon,  when  their  parents  correct  them. 
Of  such  too  the  prophet  speaks,  O  Lord,  says  he,  thou 
hast  stricken  them,  but  they  have  not  grieved ;  thou 
hast  consumed  them,  but  they  have  refused  to  receive 
correction  ;  they  have  made  their  faces  harder  than  a 
flint,  they  have  refused  to  return.  At  other  times,  im- 
penitent sinners  manifest  their  rebellious  dispositions 
under  the  rod  by  flying  to  the  world  for  comfort,  and 
plunging  with  increased  eagerness  into  its  pleasures  and 
pursuits,  instead  of  calling  upon  God,  agreeably  to  his 
command,  and  repenting  of  their  sins.  Thus  it  was 
with  those  who,  when  they  were  corrected,  said,  Let 
us  eat  and  drink,  for  tomorrow  we  die.  With  others 
ti  is  disposition  displays  itself  in  a  settled  formal  endeav- 
or to  frustrate  the  will  of  God  by  sinning  against  him 
with  a  high  hand,  in  open  contempt  of  all  his  inflictions 
and  threatenings.  Of  such  the  prophet  Isaiah  speaks  : 
Ephratm  and  the  inhabitants  of  Samaria  say  in  the  pride 
and  stoutness  of  their  hearts,  The  bricks  are  fallen  down, 
but  we  will  build  with  hewn  stone  ;  the  sycamores  are 
cut  down,  but  we  will  replace  them  with  cedars ;  as  if 
they  had  said,  God  has  taken  away  one  idol,  but  we 
will  set  up  another  in  its  stead ;  he  has  punished  us  for 
one  sin,  and  instead  of  renouncing  it  we  will  practice 
many.  But  the  perverse  unreconciled  disposition  of 
impenitent  sinners  most  frequently  appears  in  the  in- 
crease of  hard  thoughts  of  God,  and  proud  angry  feel- 
ings towards  him,  as  if  he  were  severe,  unmerciful,  or 
unjust.  What  have  I  done  ?  the  unbumbled,  corrected 
15* 


174 


THE   STUBBORN  SINNER 


sinner  often  says  in  his  heart,  what  have  I  done  to  de- 
serve all  these  afflictions  ?  Why  must  God  needs  pun- 
ish me  so  much  more  than  he  does  many  others,  who  are 
as  bad  or  worse  than  myself?  Why  did  he  take  away 
that  property  which  I  had  honestly  acquired  by  so  much 
care  and  labor,  and  which  was  necessary  for  the  sup- 
port of  my  family  ?  What  advantage  can  result  from 
the  death  of  the  friend,  the  child,  the  wife,  whom  I  have 
lost  ?  Why  can  he  not  suffer  me  to  enjoy  at  least  a 
little  peace>  and  not  follow  me  with  one  affliction  after 
another,  as  if  he  delighted  in  tormenting  me?  Or  if  I 
must  be  afflicted,  why  does  he  not  sanctify  my  afflic- 
tions, and  afford  me  those  religious  comforts  and  sup- 
ports which  I  see  many  others  enjoy  ?  How  can  it  be 
that  he  is  either,  just  or  good,  when  his  conduct  appears 
so  partial,  and  he  suffers  the  world  to  be  so  full  of  mis- 
ery !  And,  as  if  all  this  were  not  sufficient,  I  am  told 
that,  if  I  do  not  repent  and  believe,  if  I  do  not  do  some- 
thing which  1  cannot  do,  I  must  not  only  be  wretched 
here,  but  lie  down  in  sorrow  and  be  miserable  forever  ? 
If  this  is  true  I  will  have  nothing  to  do  with  such  a  be- 
ing. Why  did  he  create  me  ?  I  did  not  wish  him  to 
do  it,  and  all  I  ask  of  him  now,  is,  that  he  would  take 
away  my  existence,  and  let  me  sink  into  nothing  again, 
that  I  may  at  length  find  an  end  of  suffering  and  sorrow. 
If  this  cannot  be,  if  he  must  needs  create  me  and  keep 
me  in  being,  why  did  he  give  me  such  a  heart  as  I 
have  ?  and  if  he  dislikes  it,  why  does  he  not  take  it  away 
and  give  m  e  a  better  ? 

Thus,  my  friends,  does  the  proud,  self-justifying  heart 
of  the  afflicted,  impenitent  sinner,  often  rise  against  God, 
and  quarrel  with  and  condemn  the  Almighty  ;  and  when 
conscience  is  awakened  to  convince  him  of  his  guilt, 
alarm  his  fears,  and  lead  him  to  think  that  there  may 
possibly  be  a  future  state  of  endless  punishment,  and 
that  he  must  submit  and  be  reconciled  to  God,  if  he 
would  avoid  it,  he  endeavors  in  every  conceivable  way, 
to  banish  this  salutary  conviction  from  his  mind,  labors 
to  persuade  himself  that  there  is  no  danger,  that  all 


SUBMITTING  TO  GOD 


175 


will  be  saved  ;  or  that,  if  some  perishj  he  shall  not  be 
among  the  number.  If  he  cannot  persuade  himself  to 
believe  this,  and  his  fears  still  follow  him,  he  begins  to 
look  round  for  some  other  way  of  esckpe  ;  one  moment 
he  wishes  there  was  no  God,  that  he  was  not  such  a  God 
as  he  is,  or  that  he  could  deceive,  escape  from,  or  get 
above  him.  But  the  next  moment  he  sees  that  all  these 
wishes  are  vain.  Now  he  hopes  thijt  the  Bible  may 
not  be  true  ;  but  soon  something  whimpers  that  it  is,  and 
his  fears  return.  Thus  perplexed,  and  distressed,  like 
a  bullock  unaccustomed  to  the  yoke,  Hie  struggles,  wea- 
ries, and  torments  himself,  and  tries^  in  every  possible 
way  to  throw  of  his  burden,  escape  frpm  the  heavy  hand 
of  God,  and  regain  liberty  and  peace.  1  A  dreadful  state 
of  mind  indeed  ;  for  woe  to  him  that!  striveth  with  his 
Maker.  My  friends,  do  any  of  you  \uow  any  thing  of 
this  state  by  experience  ?  If  so,  you  raay  perhaps  listen 
with  interest  to  some  observations  on  me 

II.  Part  of  our  text,  in  which  we  have  a  description 
of  a  penitent,  humbled,  broken-hearied  sinner,  con- 
fessing and  lamenting  his  sins.  Whjit  Ephraim  was, 
when  God  began  to  correct  him,  we  have  already  seen* 
Let  us  now  contemplate  the  new  vi^ws  and  feelings 
which,  through  divine  grace,  his  afflictions  were  instru- 
mental in  producing.  The  person  is  the  same ;  the 
character  only  is  changed. 

1.  We  here  find  the  once  stubborn  and  rebellious, 
but  now  awakened  sinner  deeply  convinced  of  his  guilt 
an  d  sinfulness,  and  deploring  his  unhappy  situation.  It 
is  good  for  a  man,  says  an  inspired  writer,  to  be  afflicfc- 
ed,  and  to  bear  the  yoke  in  his  youth.  He  sitteth  alone 
and  keepeth  silence,  because  he  hath  borne  it  upon  him  ; 
he  putteth  his  mouth  in  the  dust,  if  so  be  there  may  be 
hope.  This  happy  effect  affliction  seems  to  have  pro- 
duced upon  Ephraim.  We  no  longer  see  him  in  the 
seat  of  the  scorner,  and  setting  his  mouth  against  the 
heavens.  No  ;  he  sits  alone,  and  puts  his  mouth  in  the 
dust.  His  murmuring,  repining  tongue  is  silent,  or  is 
employed  only  in  confessing  and  bewailing  his  sins.  He 


176 


THE  STUBBORN  SINNER 


still  complains  indeed,  but  it  is  of  himself  and  not  of  God. 
He  acknowledges  the  goodness,  condescension,  and 
justice  of  God  in  correcting  him.  Thou,  O  Lord,  says 
he,  hast  chastised  me.  The  word  here  rendered  chas- 
tise, signifies  to  ccrrect  as  a  father.  He  next  reflects 
with  shame,  grief,  and  self-abhorrence  on  the  manner 
in  which  he  had  treated  this  fatherly  correction.  Thou 
hast  chastised  me,  and  I  was  like  a  bullock  unaccustom- 
ed to  the  yoke.  His  obstinate  perverseness  and  impiety 
in  rebelling  and  murmuring  against  the  correcting  hand 
of  God,  seems  to  have  been  the  first  sin  of  which  he 
was  convinced.  This  is  very  frequently  the  case  with 
other  penitents.  Perhaps  more  are  convinced,  of  sin, 
and  brought  to  repentance,  by  reflecting  on  their  impi- 
ous unreconciled  feelings  under  affliction  than  by  re- 
flecting on  any  other  part  of  their  sinful  exercises. 
Such  feelings  have  indeed  a  powerful  tendency  to  shew 
the  sinner,  what  he  is  naturally  very  unwilling  to  believe, 
that  his  heart  is  enmity  against  God,  and  that  reconcili- 
ation is  indispensably  necessary.  Nothing  can  convince 
us  of  this  truth,  but  our  own  experience  of  the  enmity 
and  opposition  of  our  hearts.  Let  a  man  but  be  left  to  feel 
this  for  one  hour,  and  he  will  never  doubt  again  whether 
he  is  by  nature  an  enemy  to  God.  But  though  convic- 
tion of  sin  often  begins,  it  never  ends  with  this  ;  but  from 
this  fountain  the  convinced  sinner  traces  back  the  streams 
of  depravity  flowing  through  his  whole  life.  Thus  it 
was  with  Ephraim.  From  contemplating  the  enmity  of 
his  heart,  while  under  the  rod,  he  proceeds  to  look  back 
to  the  sins  of  early  life.  Once  he  probably  justified 
himself  and  gloriedjn  them.  But  now  he  justly  con- 
siders them  as  his  shame  and  reproach.  I  was  ashamed, 
says  he,  yea,  even  confounded,  because  I  did  bear  the 
reproach  of  my  youth.  All  the  follies  of  his  childhood, 
youth,  and  riper  years,  which  had  drawn  down  the  judg- 
ments of  God  upon  him,  rush  at  once  upon  his  mind, 
and  overwhelm  him  with  shame,  confusion,  and  grief. 
Wretch  that  I  am,  we  may  consider  him  as  exclaiming, 
what  have  I  done  ?  To  what  a  wretched  situation  has 
my  inexcusable  folly  and  wickedness  reduced  me  !  How 


SUBMITTING  TO  GOD 


177 


early  did  I  begin  to  rebel  against  my  Creator  and  Pre- 
server ;  how  soon  begin  to  consider  the  Sabbath  as  a 
weariness,  to  neglect  the  word  of  God,  to  cast  off  fear 
and  restrain  prayer  before  him  ?  How  did  I  waste  the 
season  of  childhood  in  vanity  and  folly  !  With  what 
infatuated  eagerness  did  I  plunge  into  sinful  pleasures 
and  pursuits  instead  of  remembering  my  Creator  in  the 
days  of  my  youth  !  With  what  stupid  idolatry  have  I 
worshipped  creatures  and  the  world,  and  feared  their 
frowns  and  desired  their  smiles  more  than  the  anger  or 
the  favor  of  God.  How  have  I  wasted  my  time,  abu5- 
sed  my  talents,  misimproved  opportunities,  slighted  di- 
vine calls  and  invitations  and  thus  rendered  the  precious 
gift  of  existence  a  burden  almost  too  heavy  to  bear. 
And  when  my  indulgent  heavenly  Father,  instead  of  cut- 
ting me  off  as  I  deserved,  condescended  to  correct  me 
for  my  good,  how  did  my  proud  and  stubborn  heart  rise 
and  murmur  against  his  dispensations.  He  has  indeed 
nourished  and  brought  me  up  and  corrected  me  as  a 
child,  but,  alas,  in  return  I  have  only  rebelled  against 
him.  What  then  do  I  do  not  deserve  ?  What  punish- 
ment may  I  not  expect?  In  all  my  afflictions  he  has 
punished  me  less  than  my  iniquities  deserve  ;  and  should 
he  cut  me  off,  and  render  me  miserable  forever,  I  must 
acknowledge  the  justice  of  his  dispensations ;  for  I  have 
sinned,  what  shall  1  do,  O  thou  Preserver  of  men  ? 
Such,  my  friends,  were  probably  the  reflections  of 
Ephraim,  and  such  will  be  the  reflections  of  every  af- 
flicted sinner,  when  he  is  brought  to  contemplate  his  own 
character  and  conduct  in  their  proper  light. 

2.  In  the  second  place,  we  find  this  awakened  afflic- 
ted sinner  praying.  Convinced  of  his  wretched  situation 
and  feeling  his  need  of  divine  aid,  he  humbly  seeks  it 
from  his  offended  God.  Turn  thou  me,  and  I  shall  be 
turned,  for  theu  art  the  Lord  my  God.  This  prayer 
nearly  resembles  those  which  we  hear  from  the  lips  of 
other  penitents  in  different  parts  of  Scripture.  O  Lord, 
says  the  psalmist,  open  thou  my  lips,  and  my  mouth 
shall  shew  forth  thy  praise.    Bring  my  soul  out  of  pris- 


178 


THE  STUBBORN  SINNER 


on,  that  1  may  praise  thy  name.  Draw  us,  and  we  will 
run  after  thee.  Enlarge  our  hearts,  that  we  may  run 
the  way  of  thy  commandments.  These  petitions  plainly 
intimate  that  those  who  utter  them  feel  entangled,  fetter- 
ed, or  imprisoned,  and  unable  to  get  free.  Like  the 
apostle,  they  are  brought  into  captivity  by  the  law  of  sin, 
so  that  they  cannot  do  the  things  that  they  would.  Thus 
it  was  with  penitent  Ephraim.  He  felt  the  need  of  a 
thorough  conversion  ;  he  longed  to  turn  from  sin  and 
self  and  idols,  to  God  with  his  whole  heart  ;  but  guilty 
fears,  unbelief,  and  remaining  sin  kept  him  back.  He 
knew  not  that  the  great  work  was  already  perfoijmed  ; 
he  considered  himself  as  still  a  guilty,  unconverted  sin- 
ner ;  a  body  of  death  pressed  him  down,  and  filled  him 
with  desponding  fears,  from  which  he  could  not  escape. 
He  felt  that  without  divine  assistance  he  could  do  nothing ; 
and  therefore,  like  a  helpless  captive,  breathes  a  short, 
but  fervent  prayer  for  help.  Turn  thou  me,  says  he, 
and  I  shall  be  turned.  Observe,/or  what  he  prays  ;  not 
that  his  afflictions  may  be  removed,  but  that  they  might 
be  sanctified ;  not  that  he  might  be  delivered  from  pun- 
ishment, but  turned  from  sin  to  God.  Observe  also  how 
he  prays.  He  pleads  nothing  of  his  own  as  a  reason 
why  he  should  be  heard.  He  does  not,  like  the  proud 
pharisee,  thank  God  that  he  is  not  like  other  men.  He 
mentions  no  good  works,  no  worthiness,  no  resolution  of 
amendment,  in  order  to  obtain  the  divine  favor.  His 
only  plea  is  drawn  from  the  character  of  the  being  whom 
he  addressed,  Turn  thou  me,  for  thou  art  the  Lord  my 
God.  As  if  he  had  said,  Thou  art  Jehovah,  infinite  in 
power,  wisdom,  and  goodness,  and  art  able  to  turn  me  ; 
thou  art  also  my  God,  my  Creator,  to  whom  I  ought  to 
turn.  To  thee  I  surrender  myself;  I  would  be  in  thy 
hands,  as  clay  in  the  hands  of  the  potter.  O  thoroughly 
subdue  my  stubborn  heart,  and  fashion  me  according  to 
thy  will.  In  a  similar  manner,  and  for  similar  blessings 
will  every  penitent  sinner  pray.  Whatever  his  charac- 
ter may  have  formerly  been,  as  soon  as  he  repents  it  will 
be  said  of  him,  Behold  he  prayetb.    Though  he  once 


SUBMITTING  TO  GOD. 


179 


perhaps  proudly  fancied  that  he  could  help  himself,  and 
felt  not  the  need  of  prayer,  he  now  feels  the  truth  of 
God's  declaration,  O  sinner,  thou  hast  destroyed  thyself ; 
but  in  me  is  thy  help.  He  will  also,  like  Ephraim,  pray 
to  be  delivered  from  sin,  rather  than  from  punishment  ; 
and  since  the  only  way  of  access  to  God  is  through 
Christ,  he  will  present  all  his  petitions  in  his  name,  cry- 
ing, Not  for  my  sake,  O  Lord,  but  for  thy  Son's  sake, 
pardon  thou  mine  iniquity,  for  it  is  great.  Turn  thou 
me,  and  I  shall  be  turned  ;  draw  me,  and  I  shall  run 
after  thee ;  Open  thou  my  lips,  and  my  mouth  shall 
shew  forth  thy  praise. 

3.  In  the  third  place,  we  find  this  corrected,  mourn- 
ing, praying  sinner  reflecting  upon  the  effects  of  divine 
grace  in  his  conversion.  Surely,  says  he,  after  I  was 
turned  I  repented,  and  after  that  I  was  instructed  I  smote 
upon  my  thigh  ;  T  was  ashamed,  yea,  even  confounded, 
because  I  did  bear  the  reproach  of  my  youth.  It  is 
worthy  of  remark,  my  friends,  how  soon  the  answer  fol- 
lowed the  prayer.  In  one  verse,  we  find  Ephraim  call- 
ing God  to  turn  or  convert  him.  In  the  very  next,  we 
find  him  reflecting  upon  his  conversion  and  rejoicing  in 
it.  And  what  were  the  effects  of  this  change,  thus  sud- 
denly produced  by  divine  grace  ?  The  first  was  repen- 
tance. After  I  was  turned,  I  repented.  No  man,  my 
friends,  truly  repents,  till  he  is  converted  or  turned  from 
sin  to  God  ;  and  every  one  who  is  really  converted,  will 
thus  repent.  He  then  begins  to  hate  the  sins  which  he 
formerly  loved,  and  mourns  over  them  with  Godly  sor- 
row and  brokenness  of  heart.  And  as  no  man  can  prac- 
tice that  which  he  hates,  and  for  which  he  mourns,  the 
real  penitent  will  bring  forth  fruits  meet  for  repentance, 
by  confessing  and  renouncing  his  sins  ;  making  all  the 
reparation  in  his  power  to  those  whom  he  may  have  in- 
jured, and  diligently  practising  every  good  work.  The 
second  effect  of  conversion  in  this  case  was,  self  loathing 
and  abhorrence.  He  hated  and  abhorred,  not  only  his 
sins,  but  himself  for  committing  them.  After  I  was  in- 
structed, says  he,  I  smote  upon  my  thigh.    I  was  asha- 


180  THE  STUBBORN  SINNER 

med,  yea,  even  confounded.  The  gesture,  by  which 
penitent  Ephraim  is  here  represented  as  expressing  his 
self-abhorrence,  is  frequently  mentioned  in  the  Scriptures 
as  indicating  the  strongest  emotions  of  grief  and  holy  in- 
dignation. Son  of  man,  says  Jehovah  to  the  prophet 
Ezekiel,  smite  with  thy  hand,and  stamp  with  thy  foot,  and 
cry,  alas,  for  all  the  evil  abominations  of  the  house  of  Isra- 
el. In  a  similar  manner  penitent  Ephraim  expresses  his 
abhorrence  of  his  own  former  sins  ;  and  thus  in  the  New 
Testament  we  find  the  humble  publican  smiting  upon  his 
breast  in  token  of  indignation  against  himself,  while  he 
cries,  God  be  merciful  to  me  a  sinner.  Still  farther  to  ex- 
press his  grief  and  shame,  the  penitent  adds  to  the  most 
significant  actions  the  most  expressive  words.  I  was 
ashamed,  says  he,  yea,  even  confounded  because  1  did 
bear  the  reproach  of  my  youth.  My  friends,  should  a 
man  make  use  of  such  gestures,  and  employ  such  lan- 
guage at  the  present  day  to  express  his  self-abhorrence 
for  sin,  he  would  by  many  be  thought  insane ;  and  I 
doubt  not  that  there  are  some  present,  who  do  not  be- 
lieve that  any  person,  unless  he  has  been  guilty  of  the 
blackest  crimes,  can  sincerely  adopt  such  language,  or 
entertain  such  feelings  respecting  himself.  But,  my 
friends,  every  real  penitent  does  entertain  such  feelings 
respecting  himself — his  past  conduct,  and  can  with  the 
utmost  sincerity  adopt  the  strongest  expressions  of  self- 
abhorrence  which  language  affords.  Not  only  so,  but  he 
finds  all  language  far  too  weak  to  describe  what  he 
feels  on  account  of  his  sins.  Whatever  men  may  think 
of  him,  and  however  exemplary  his  conduct  toward 
them  may  have  been,  he  does  in  fact  consider  him- 
self as  guilty  of  the  blackest  crimes ;  for  in  his  view 
no  crimes  committed  against  a  fellow  creature  can 
equal  the  rebellion,  ingratitude  and  impiety  which  he 
has  in  his  heart  committed  against  God.  Hence,  like 
penitent  Ephraim,  he  is  ashamed  and  confounded  when 
he  reflects  on  his  past  conduct;  and,  like  the  repenting 
Jews,  loathes  himself  for  his  iniquities  and  abomina- 
tions. 


SUBMITTING  TO  GOD. 


181 


And  now,  my  friends,  consider  a  moment  what  a 
change  is  here.  He  who  was  once  like  a  bullock  unac- 
customed to  the  yoke,  wild,  sullen,  unmanageable,  and 
perverse,  his  mouth  filled  with  murmuring  complaints, 
and  his  heart  with  pride,  unbelief,  and  opposition  to  God, 
now  quiet,  docile,  and  submissive,  sits  like  a  little  child 
at  the  feet  of  his  heavenly  Father,  which  he  bathes  with 
penitential  tears,  while  with  a  broken  heart  and  a  filial 
spirit  he  looks  up  and  cries,  Turn  thou  me,  and  I  shall 
be  turned,  for  thou  art  the  Lord  my  God. — Is  Ephraim 
my  dear  son  ?  Is  he  a  pleasant  child  ?  My  friends,  is 
not  this  indeed  a  new  creature  ?  May  not  such  a  change 
be  called  being  born  again  ?  What  blessings  are  afflic- 
tions, when  they  are  the  means  of  producing  it  ? 

III.  We  proceed  now  to  consider  the  third  object 
here  described,  viz.  a  correcting,  but  compassionate  and 
pardoning  God,  watching  the  result  of  his  corrections 
and  noticing  the  first  symptoms  of  repentance,  and  ex- 
pressing his  gracious  purposes  of  mercy  respecting  the 
chastened  penitent  sinner.  In  this  description  God  rep- 
resents himself, 

First,  as  a  tender  Father  solicitously  mindful  of  his 
penitent  afflicted  child.  Is  Ephraim  my  dear  son?  Is 
he  a  pleasant  child  ?  that  is,  according  to  a  common 
mode  of  expression,  is  he  not  so  ?  Jor  since  I  spoke 
against  him  I  do  earnestly  remember  him.  '  My  friends, 
when  God  speaks  against  us,  and  seems  to  afflict  us  as 
an  enemy,  he  does  not  forget  us.  On  the  contrary,  he 
is  then  more  mindful  of  us  than  at  any  other  time.  As 
a  kind  earthly  Father,  after  he  has  corrected  a  child  for 
any  fault  carefully  watches  him  to  see  what  effect  the 
correction  produces  ;  so  our  heavenly  Father  remem- 
bers and  watches  over  us  in  seasons  of  adversity  and 
affliction,  to  see  if  we  shew  any  disposition  to  return  to 
him.  He  not  only  remembers,  but  earnestly  and  affec- 
tionately remembers  us.  How  powerfully  should  this 
urge  us  constantly  and  affectionately  to  remember  him 
at  such  seasons. 


16 


182 


THE  STUBBORN  SINNER 


In  the  second  place,  God  represents  himself  as  listen- 
ing to  his  complaints,  confessions  and  petitions.  I  have 
surely,  says  he,  heard  Ephraim,  bemoaning  himself.  So 
he  does  still.  As  an  affectionate  parent,  after  confining  a 
stubborn  child  to  a  solitary  apartment,  sometimes  stands 
at  the  door  without,  secretly  listening  to  his  complaints, 
that  he  may  release  him  on  the  first  symptom  of  submis- 
sion, so  when  God  puts  us  into  the  prison  of  a  ffliction, 
he  invisibly,  but  attentively  listens  to  catch  the  first  peni-r 
tential  sigh,  and  hear  the  first  breathings  of  prayer  which 
escape  us ;  and  no  music,  not  even  the  halleluias  of  an- 
gels, is  more  pleasing  to  his  ears,  than  these  cries  and 
complaints  of  a  broken  heart ;  nor  can  any  thing  more 
quickly  or  more  powerfully  excite  his  compassion. 
Agreeably,  he  represents  himself,  as  strongly  affected 
by  the  complaints  of  Ephraim  :  My  bowels,  says  he, 
are  troubled  for  him.  My  friends,  what  astonishing 
compassion,  and  love  is  this,  that  the  infinite  Eternal 
Jehovah  should  represent  himself  as  troubled  and  griev- 
ed for  the  sufferings  of  penitent  sinners  under  those  af- 
flictions which  their  sins  had  brought  upon  them  !  Cer- 
tainly nothing  in  heaven  or  earth  is  so  wonderful  as  this  ; 
and  if  this  language  does  not  affect  us  and  break  our 
hearts,  nothing  can  do  it. 

Lastly,  God  declares  his  determination  to  pardon 
him  :  I  will  surely  have  mercy  upon  him.  He  calls  me 
the  Lord,,  his  God,  and  I  will  be  his  God  and  Father, 
and  freely  forgive  all  his  sins.  In  the  same  manner,  my 
friends,  will  he  deal  with  us,  if  we  like  Ephraim  confess, 
repent  of,  and  forsake  our  sins  ;  for,  says  the  apostle,  if 
we  confess  our  sins,  he  is  faithful  and  just  to  forgive  us, 
and  to  cleanse  us  from  all  unrighteousness ;  and  then 
though  our  sins  are  of  a  crimson  color  and  a  scarlet  die, 
they  shall  be  as  wool. 

Thus,  my  friends,  have  we  seen  a  contest  between 
God  and  an  obstinate,  impenitent,  afflicted  sinner,  issu- 
ing, through  the  submission  and  repentance  of  the  latter, 
in  a  perfect,  happy,  and  lasting  reconciliation.  In  a 
similar  manner  must  we  all  be  reconciled  to  God,  if  we 


SUBMITTING  TO  GOB. 


18S 


would  not  remain  his  enemies  forever,  and  perish  eter- 
nally as  such.    Permit  me  then  to  improve  the  subject 
by  asking,  are  there  not  some  present  whose  feelings 
and  character  resemble  those  of  Ephraim,  while  he 
was  struggling  under  the  rod,  like  a  bullock  unaccustom- 
ed to  the  yoke  ?    You  have  all,  at  some  period  of  your 
lives,  been  called  to  drink  more  or  less  deeply  of  the 
cup  of  affliction.    What  then  were  your  feelings,  when 
it  was  put  to  your  lips  ?    What  are  they  now,  when 
God  corrects  you  ?    When  your  earthly  prospects  are 
blasted,  your  desires  crossed,  your  hopes  disappointed, 
your  friends  or  property  taken  away,  your  health  im- 
paired, and  every  thing  seems  to  go  wrong  with  you, 
how  do  you  feel  ?    Above  all,  how  do  you  feel,  when 
your  fears  are  excited  respecting  death,  and  judgment, 
and  you  see  no  way  of  escape  ?    Are  your  minds  nev- 
er like  the  troubled  sea,  which  cannot  rest  ?    Do  your 
hearts  never  feel  disposed  to  rise  against  God,  as  a  hard 
master  ?    Do  you  not  at  times  feel  much  of  a  murmur- 
ing, repining,  discontented  temper,  and  wish  that  it  were 
in  your  power  to  order  events  differently  ?    In  a  word, 
when  afflictions  or  fears  of  future  misery  press  hard  upon 
you,  do  you  sometimes  feel  like  a  wild  beast  entangled 
in  a  net,  or  a  bullock  unaccustomed  to  the  yoke?  If 
not,  have  you  not  continued  hard  and  impenitent  under 
your  afflictions,  instead  of  endeavoring  that  they  might 
be  sanctified.    If  so,  you  are  certainly  striving  with 
your  Maker,  and  your  character  resembles  that  of 
Ephraim  before  his  conversion  ;  and  unless  like  him 
you  become  reconciled  to  God,  you  must  perish ;  for 
woe  to  him  that  striveth  with  his  Maker.    If  you  ask, 
How  are  we  to  be  reconciled?  you  may  learn  from  his 
example.    If  like  him  you  bemoan  your  wretched,  lost 
condition,  hate,  and  renounce,  and  mourn  over  your- 
sins  ;  feel  ashamed  and  confounded  before  God,  and 
sincerely  pray  for  sanctifying,  pardoning  grace,  you  will 
most  certainly  like  him  be  pardoned  and  accepted.  In 
no  other  way  can  a  reconciliation  be  effected.    In  no 
other  way  can  you  possibly  escape  from  the  wrath  to 


184 


THE  STUBBORN  SINNER,  &C. 


come.  You  must  be  reconciled  to  God's  holiness  and 
justice  ;  for  never,  never  can  he  be  reconciled  to  your 
sins.  Sin  is  the  only  ground  of  contention.  Do  but  re- 
nounce sin,  and  all  will  be  well.  To  induce  you  to  do 
this  and  be  reconciled  to  God,  consider  the  representa- 
tion which  he  gives  of  himself  in  our  text.  Notwith- 
standing all  your  sins,  he  earnestly  and  affectionately  re- 
members you  still.  He  is  now,  as  it  were,  listening  and 
waiting  to  hear  your  complaints,  petitions,  and  confes- 
sions ;  and  if  he  can  but  hear  from  you  one  truly  peni- 
tential sigh,  or  see  one  really  penitential  tear  from  your 
eyes,  he  will  be  grieved  and  troubled  for  your  sorrows, 
and  hasten  to  answer,  comfort,  adopt,  and  pardon  you. 
O,  then,  let  him  not  wait  and  listen  in  vain.  If  you  feel 
desirous,  but  unable  to  return,  cry  unto  him,  Turn  thou 
me,  and  I  shall  he  turned  ;  and  when  you  retire  from 
this  house  to  your  closets,  let  him  have  reason  to  say 
respecting  each  one  of  you  by  name,  I  have  surely  heard 
him  bemoaning  himself;  therefore  my  bowels  are  troub- 
led, and  I  will  surely  have  mercy  upon  him.  Thus* 
there  will  be  joy  over  you  in  heaven,  as  repenting  sin- 
ners ;  you  will  feel  in  your  own  hearts  those  pure,  re- 
freshing joys  which  result  from  reconciliation  with  God. 


SERMON  XIII. 


Christ  rejects  None  who  come  unto  Him. 


JOHN  VI.  37. 

HIM  THAT  COMETH  TO  ME,  I  WILL  IN  NO  WISE  CAST  OUT. 

I  need  not  tell  you,  my  friends,  that  these  are  the 
words  of  Christ ;  for  who  but  he  would  or  could  utter 
such  words?  Who  but  the  compassionate  Friend  of 
sinners,  the  Shepherd,  who  came  to  seek  and  to  save 
that  which  was  lost,  would  say  this  ?  And  who  but  he, 
in  whom  all  fulness  dwells,  could  say  it  ?  Who  besides 
has  compassion  enough,  and  room  enough,  to  receive 
and  entertain  all  who  will  come  to  him  without  excep- 
tion ?  But  he  has  both.  He  can  venture  to  say,  If  any 
man  thirst,  let  him  come  unto  me  and  drink ;  for  he 
knows  that  there  is  in  himself  room  for  any,  room  for  aM  ; 
and  that  the  waters  of  life,  which  flow  from  him,  can 
never  be  exhausted.  And  he  can  also  venture  to  say, 
Him  that  cometh  unto  me  I  will  in  no  wise  cast  out ) 
for  he  knows  the  worst  who  can  come,  and  that  his  grace 
is  sufficient  for  the  worst.  But  why  did  he  say  this  ? 
Why  give  us  such  invitations  and  assurances  ?  Because 
he  knew  they  would  be  necessary.  Because  he  knew 
that  awakened  and  convinced  sinners  would  be  so  much 
discouraged  by  their  own  ignorance,  weakness,  guilt, 
and  unworthiness,  as  to  need  the  most  gracious  and  ex- 
plicit assurances  of  his  readiness  to  receive  them.  He 
knew  that,  if  he  made  one  exception,  if  he  intimated 
that  any  one  who  came  to  him  might  be  rejected,  every 
16* 


186 


CHRIST  REJECTS  NONE 


convinced  sinner  would  think  himself  to  be  that  one,  and 
would  not  dare  to  approach  him.  He  was  therefore 
pleased  to  express  his  invitations  in  the  most  general  and 
encouraging  terms  which  language  could  afford,  exclaim- 
ing, Whosoever  will,  let  him  come,  and  him  that  cometh 
I  will  in  no  wise  cast  out.  He  had  also  a  farther  object 
in  view.  He  intended  to  leave  those  who  refused  to 
come  without  excuse.  He  intended  that,  if  sinners 
would  perish,  their  destruction  should  evidently  appear 
to  be  owing  to  themselves  and  not  to  him.  He  intend- 
ed that  no  man,  who  heard  the  gospel,  should  have  any 
cause  to  pretend  that  he  was  not  invited  to  share  in  its 
benefits.  He  therefore  made  his  invitations  as  general 
and  comprehensive  as  possible,  so  as  to  exclude  none 
who  did  not  exclude  themselves.  And  the  same  rea- 
son, which  rendered  it  necessary  that  Christ  should  give 
us  such  invitations  and  assurances,  make  it  necessary 
that  his  ministers  should  call  your  attention  to  them. 
This  I  shall  now  attempt  to  do.  And  1  tell  you  frank- 
ly, my  friends,  what  is  my  intention.  It  is  to  persuade 
you  all,  if  possible,  to  come  to  Christ  ;  and,  if  you  will 
not,  to  leave  you  entirely  without  excuse  in  refusing  to 
come. 

With  this  view  I  shall  endeavor  to  show, 
L  What  is  meant  by  coming  to  Christ  ?  Since  Christ 
is  now  in  heaven,  whither  our  bodies  cannot  at  present 
ascend,  it  is  evident  that  by  this  expression  cannot  be 
meant  a  bodily  approach  to  him.  Agreeably,  the  apos- 
tle says,  Say  not  in  thy  heart,  who  shall  ascend  into 
heaven,  to  bring  down  Christ  from  above ;  or  who  shall 
descend  into  the  deep,  to  bring  up  Christ  from  the  dead  ; 
for  the  word  is  nigh  thee,  even  in  thy  mouth  and  in  thy 
heart.  It  appears  then  that  coming  to  Christ  is  an  act, 
not  of  the  body,  but  of  the  mind  or  heart,  so  that  you 
may  come  to  him  without  moving  out  of  your  places. 
When  we  come  to  a  human  friend  who  calls  us,  there 
are  two  actions  performed.  The  first  is  an  act  of  the 
soul,  by  which  we  choose  or  determine  to  come  to  that 
friend.    The  second  is  an  act  of  the  body,  by  which  we 


WHO  COME  UNTO  HIM 


187 


execute  the  previous  determination  of  the  mind.  But 
in  coming  to  Christ  there  is  only  one  act,  an  act  of  the 
soul ;  and  this  act  consists  in  choosing  and  determining 
to  forsake  every  thing  else,  and  to  comply  with  his  invi- 
tations by  repairing  to  him.  In  other  words,  coming  to 
Christ  is  an  act  of  choice,  an  act  by  which  the  soul  free- 
ly chooses  him  in  preference  to  every  thing  beside.  Are 
there  any  who  do  not  understand  this  ?  I  will  endeavor 
to  be  more  plain.  Suppose  that,  while  your  attention 
is  occupied  by  various  interesting  objects,  you  see  the 
dearest  friend  you  have  on  earth,  approaching  at  a  little 
distance.  Your  hearts  immediately  drop  the  objects 
which  had  previously  engaged  their  attention  ;  and,  if  I 
may  so  express  it,  spring  forward  to  meet  and  welcome 
your  friend  before  he  arrives.  So  when  persons  come 
to  Christ,  their  hearts  leave  the  objects  with  which  they 
had  been  occupied,  fly  to  him  with  affectionate  desire, 
and  cling  to  him  as  the  supreme  object  of  their  confi- 
dence and  love.  They  see  that  he  is  just  such  a  Saviour 
as  they  need  ;  they  are  sweetly,  but  powerfully  drawn  to 
him  by  the  attractions  of  his  moral  glory  and  beauty,  and 
feel  bound  to  him  by  bonds  which  they  have  no  wish  to 
break.  Hence  coming  to  Christ  is  elsewhere  called 
trusting  in  him,  receiving  him,  believing  in  him,  and 
loving  him. 

But  it  is  necessary  to  observe  farther,  that  all  who 
thus  come  to  Christ  come  to  him  in  his  official  charac- 
ter, as  the  appointed  Saviour,  and  only  Saviour  of  sin- 
ners. They  do  not  come  to  gratify  their  curiosity,  or 
to  quiet  their  consciences,  but  to  be  saved  by  him  from 
sin  and  from  its  consequences.  Of  course,  they  come 
to  him  as  sinners,  feeling  that  they  are  so,  that  they  are 
dead  in  sins,  and  justly  exposed  to  everlasting  wrath. 
Hence,  coming  to  Christ  is  called  fleeing  from  the  wrath 
to  come,  and  fleeing  for  refuge  to  lay  hold  on  the  hope 
set  before  us  in  the  gospeL  Those  who  thus  come  to 
Christ  as  a  Saviour,  apply  to  him  or  receive  him  in  all 
those  characters  which  he  sustains  in  consequence  of 
being  a  Saviour.    They  come  to  him,  for  instance,  as 


188 


CHRIST  REJECTS  NONE 


a  prophet  or  instructer,  to  be  taught.  Of  course,  they 
feel  that  they  need  to  be  taught;  that  they  are  spiritu- 
ally blind  and  ignorant,  and  that  there  is  none  who  teach-  - 
eth  like  him.  Like  Mary  they  sit  at  his  feet  and  hear 
his  word  with  the  temper  of  little  children  ;  they  wait 
upon  him  for  farther  communications  of  divine  wisdom 
and  knowledge,  and  consider  his  words  as  a  sufficient 
proof  of  whatever  he  may  assert.  Hence,  in  the  same 
passage  in  which  he  invites  the  weary  and  heavy  laden 
to  come  to  him,  he  also  says  to  them,  Learn  of  me,  and 
ye  shall  find  rest.  Hence  also,  those  who  come  to  him 
are  called  his  disciples,  that  is,  his  scholars  or  pupils. 

Those  who  come  to  Christ  come  to  him  also  as  a 
priest.  A  priest  is  one  who,  to  use  the  language  of  the 
apostle,  is  ordained  for  men  in  things  pertaining  to  God, 
to  offer  both  gifts  and  sacrifices  for  sin ;  and  at  the  same 
time  to  plead  for  those  whose  sacrifices  'he  offers,  that 
their  sins  may  be  pardoned,  and  their  persons  and  ser- 
vices accepted.  In  other  words,  he  is  appointed  to 
make  an  atonement  for  sin,  and  to  intercede  for  sinners. 
Christ,  as  our  high  priest,  does  both.  By  once  offering 
up  himself,  as  a  sacrifice  he  has  made  atonement  for 
sin  ;  and  he  ever  lives  to  intercede  for  all  who  come  to 
God  by  him.  Those  then  who  come  to  him  in  his  char- 
acter of  a  priest,  come  as  sinners,  as  those,  who  feel  that 
they  need  an  atonement  which  they  are  unable  to  make, 
that  they  are  unworthy  to  approach  a  holy  God,  and 
that  they  need  an  advocate  or  intercessor  to  plead  for 
them  in  the  court  of  heaven,  to  present  their  petitions  at 
the  throne  of  grace,  and  to  render  their  persons  and 
their  services  acceptable  to  God.  Hence  they  apply 
to  Christ,  believing  that  he  is  both  able  and  willing  to  do 
all  this  for  them. 

Again  ;  all  who  come  to  Christ  come  to  him  as  a  King. 
In  this  character  he  sits  on  the  throne  of  his  mediatorial 
kingdom,  giving  laws  to  his  subjects,  protecting  and  de- 
fending them,  and  subduing  their  enemies  under  their 
feet.  Hence  he  requires  all  who  come  to  him  to  take 
upon  themselves  his  yoke  ;  or,  in  other  words,  to  sub- 


WHO  COME  UNTO  HIM. 


189 


mit  cordially  and  cheerfully  to  his  government.  With 
this  requisition  all  who  really  come  to  him  readily  com- 
ply. They  joyfully  give  him  the  throne  of  their  hearts, 
submit  with  delight  to  his  law  of  love,  follow  him  as  their 
prince  and  captain,  and  confide  in  his  power  and  grace 
to  deliver  them  from  the  spiritual  enemies  by  which  they 
are  enslaved  and  which  they  feel  utterly  unable  to  sub- 
due. It  appears  then  that  coming  to  Christ,  is  a  volun- 
tary act  of  the  soul,  by  which  it  freely  chooses  Christ 
in  preference  to  all  other  objects,  and  applies  to  him 
feeling  ignorant,  sinful,  guilty,  weak  and  helpless,  to  be 
taught,  saved,  and  ruled  by  him  alone. 
We  now  proceed  to  show, 

II.  That  those  who  thus  come  to  Christ  he  will  in 
no  wise  cast  out.  The  terms,  in  no  wise,  are  exceed- 
ingly strong  and  comprehensive.  There  is  no  case, 
character,  or  situation,  to  which  they  will  not  apply.  But 
general  expressions  affect  us  much  less,  than  those  which 
are  addressed  to  our  own  particular  case.  Let  us  then 
mention  more  particularly  the  cases  which  the  genera! 
declaration  includes. 

1.  We  may  consider  our  Saviour  as  declaring  that 
none  who  come  to  him  shall  be  excluded  on  account  of 
their  age.  On  the  one  hand,  none  shall  be  excluded 
because  they  are  too  young.  It  was  foretold  of  him 
that,  when  he  should  come  as  a  shepherd,  he  should 
gather  the  lambs  with  his  arms  and  carry  them  in  his 
bosom.  Agreeably  to  this  prediction,  he  not  only  noti- 
ced the  children  who,  in  the  temple,  cried,  Hosanna  to 
the  Son  of  David  ;  but  took  up  young  children  in  his 
arms  and  blessed  them,  and  said  expressly,  Suffer  little 
children  to  come  unto  me,  and  forbid  them  not.  Sure- 
ly then,  he  will  cast  out  none  because  they  are  young. 
Hear  this,  ye  children  ;  hear  it,  little  children.  Jesus 
Christ  says  you  may  come  to  him,  and  that  he  will  not 
cast  you  out,  if  you  do  come.  Many  as  young  as  you 
have  come  to  him,  and  he  never  cast  out  one  of  them. 
Come  then,  my  children,  to  Christ,  and  cry,  Hosanna  to 
the  Son  of  David.    On  the  other  hand,  none  who  com© 


190 


CHRIST  REJECTS  NONE 


to  him  shall  be  excluded  because  they  are  too  old.  It 
is  true  that  there  are  peculiar  difficulties  attending  the 
salvation  of  aged  sinners,  and  that  few  of  them  probably 
are  saved.  But  these  difficulties  are  in  themselves,  not 
in  Christ.  They  arise  solely  from  their  unwillingness  to 
come.  Those  who  come,  though  at  the  eleventh  hour, 
are  never  rejected. 

In  the  second  place,  we  may  consider  Christ  as  here 
declaring  that  none,  who  come  to  him,  shall  be  cast  out 
on  account  of  their  situation  in  life.  None  shall  be  ex- 
cluded because  they  are  poor  and  despised  of  men  ;  for 
Christ  gathereth  the  outcasts  of  Israel  ;  his  gospel  is 
preached  particularly  to  the  poor  ;  and  God  has  chosen 
the  poor,  who  are  rich  in  faith,  to  be  heirs  of  his  king- 
dom. Nor  shall  honors  or  riches  exclude  their  posses- 
sors from  the  Saviour,  if  they  do  not  prevent  them  from 
coming  to  him  ;  for  though  not  many  mighty  or  noble 
are  called,  yet  some  are,  and,  though  hard,  it  is  not  im- 
possible for  a  rich  man  to  be  saved. 

In  the  third  place,  we  may  Understand  Christ  as  de- 
claring that  none,  who  come  to  him,  shall  be  cast  out, 
on  account  of  their  ignorance  and  slowness  to  learn.  He 
is  one  who  can  have  compassion  on  the  ignorant,  and  on 
them  that  are  out  of  the  way.  While  he  hides  himself 
from  the  wise  and  prudent  he  delights  to  reveal  himself 
to  babes  in  wisdom  and  knowledge.  His  first  disciples 
were  exceedingly  foolish  and  slow  of  heart  to  understand 
his  instructions.  Yet  he  did  not  therefore  reject  them. 
Nor  can  ignorance  present  any  obstacle  to  him  who  pos- 
sesses all  the  treasures  of  wisdom  and  knowledge  ;  who 
can  give  eyes  to  the  blind,  and  hearing  to  the  deaf.  In- 
deed, it  is  the  blind  whom  he  especially  promises  to 
guide  and  instruct.  Other  instructers  may  dismiss  those 
who  have  no  capacity  to  receive  instruction  ;  but  this 
Divine  Teacher  can  impart  a  capacity,  and  give  an  un- 
derstanding heart. 

In  the  fourth  place,  this  declaration  warrants  us  to  as- 
sert that  none,  who  come  to  Christ,  shall  be  cast  out  on 
account  of  the  number,  magnitude,  or  aggravation  of 


WHO  COME  UNTO  HIM. 


191 


their  sins.  It  is  a  doubt  of  this  truth,  which,  more  than 
any  thing  else,  discourages  those,  who  are  burdened  with 
conscious  guilt,  from  coming  to  the  Saviour  for  relief. 
They  acknowledge  that  he  is  just  such  a  Saviour  as  they 
need  5  but  their  sins  are  so  great  that  he  will  not  be  their 
Saviour.  They  allow  that  his  invitations  and  promises 
are  as  encouraging  as  possible  5  but  doubt  whether  these 
invitations  and  promises  are  intended  for  them.  It  is 
therefore  necessary  to  insist  more  particularly  on  the 
fact,  that  none,  who  come  to  Christ,  will  be  excluded  on 
account  either  of  their  past  sins  or  their  present  unwor- 
thiness.  Permit  me  then  to  ask,  do  not  the  words,  in 
no  wise,  include  every  conceivable  case  that  can  ever 
occur  ?  I  need  not  tell  you  that  it  is  the  same  as  if  our 
Saviour  had  said,  1  will  on  no  account,  on  no  pretence, 
for  no  cause  whatever,  cast  out  any  one  that  comes  to 
me.  Now  is  there  an  individual  in  this  house,  who  can 
with  the  least  shadow  of  propriety  pretend,  that  these 
expressions  do  not  include  him  ;  that  there  is  any  thing 
in  his  case,  to  which  this  assurance  does  not  extend  ? 
Is  it  not  evident  that,  should  our  Saviour  exclude  any 
One  an  account  of  the  number  or  magnitude  of  his  sins, 
the  declaration  in  our  text  would,  from  that  moment,  be 
proved  false?  And  would  he  utter  such  a  declaration 
with  a  view  to  falsify  it  ?  He^was  under  no  obligation 
to  utter  it.  He  could  have  no  inducement  to  do  so,  un- 
less he  intended  to  fulfil  it.  He  knew  what  mankind 
were ;  he  knew  what  length  many  of  them  would  go  in 
sin.  Nay  more,  he  foresaw  all  your  sins  ;  he  knew 
that  there  would  be  such  sinners  as  you  are,  and  that  you 
would  hear  of  this  declaration.  Yet  this  knowledge  did 
not  deter  him  from  making  it.  What  then  shall  prevent 
him  from  fulfilling  it  ?  He  is  the  Amen,  the  faithful  and 
true  Witness,  nay  the  Truth  itself,  and  he  has  declared 
that,  though  heaven  and  earth  pass  away,  his  word  shall 
not  pass  away;  no,  not  one  jot  or  tittle  of  it,  till  all  be 
fulfilled.  Sooner  then  will  the  earth  sink  under  your 
feet  5  sooner  shall  the  heavens  be  wrapped  together  as 
a  scroll  and  pass  away,  than  you  or  any  other  sinner, 


192 


CHRIST  REJECTS  NONE 


who  comes  to  Christ,  will  be  excluded.  And  even  if 
he  were  not  truth,  if  he  had  no  regard  to  his  own  word, 
his  concern  for  his  reputation  would  secure  you  a  favor- 
able reception.  You  need  not  be  told,  that  it  is  dis- 
graceful to  a  person  to  undertake  a  work  which  he  is 
not  able  to  accomplish.  Our  Saviour  himself  has  taught 
us  this  truth.  He  advises  those,  who  think  of  profess- 
ing religion,  to  sit  down  first  and  count  the  cost,  and 
not  act  like  a  man  who  should  begin  a  work  which  he 
was  unable  to  finish.  And  would  he,  think  you,  act 
contrary  to  his  own  advice  ?  Would  he  undertake  any 
work  without  counting  the  cost  ?  But  he  has  under- 
taken to  save  all  that  come  to  him.  In  the  sight  of 
all  the  holy  angels  he  has  pledged  himself  to  do  it. 
He  has  not  only  undertaken  this  work,  but  he  has  com- 
menced it.  He  has  laid  the  foundation  of  salvation  to 
his  church  deep  in  his  own  blood ;  he  has  begun  to 
raise  the  superstructure ;  and  now,  should  he  in  any. 
one  instance,  fail,  it  would,  with  reverence  be  it  spo- 
ken, be  an  eternal  disgrace  to  his  character,— -a  dis- 
grace which  all  his  creatures  would  witness.  Nay 
more,  it  would  bring  a  blot  on  the  untarnished  charac- 
ter of  Jehovah,  for  he  provided  this  Saviour  ;  he  pro- 
vided him  on  purpose  for  this  work  ;  and,  should  it  be 
found  that  he  has  provided  an  insufficient  Saviour,  one 
who  was  deficient  either  in  power,  in  compassion,  or  in 
patience,  his  reputation  for  wisdom  would  suffer ;  and  he 
would  stand  chargeable  with  providing  inadequate  means 
for  the  accomplishment  of  his  purposes.  And  in  fact, 
my  friends,  you  charge  him  with  this,  whenever  you 
plead  the  greatness  of  your  guilt  as  a  reason  for  doubt- 
ing whether  Christ  be  willing  to  receive  you.  But 
for  this  charge  there  is  no  foundation.  It  will  be  seen,  to 
God's  eternal  glory,  that  he  laid  help  on  one  that  was 
mighty  to  save,  able  to  save  even  to  the  uttermost. 
Surely  then,  you  have  all  the  evidence  that  can  be  given 
or  desired,  that,  if  you  come  to  Christ,  he  will  never  cast 
you  out,- 


WHO  COME  UNTO  HIM. 


193 


But  perhaps  you  will  say,  there  must  be  some  excep- 
tions made  to  this  assertion ;  for  we  are  told  that  there 
is  a  sin  unto  death,  a  sin  against  the  Holy  Ghost,  for 
which  there  is  no  forgiveness,  either  in  this  world  or  in 
the  next.  Those,  therefore,  who  have  committed  this 
sin,  Christ  will  not  receive.  Say  rather,  that  those  who 
have  committed  this  sin  will  never  come  to  Christ. 
Say  rather,  that  there  is  no  repentance,  and,  therefore, 
no  forgiveness  for  it.  Would  they  repent,  would  they 
come  to  Christ,  even  they  might  be  pardoned.  But  the 
difficulty,  and  the  only  difficulty,  is,  that  they  will  not. 
By  committing  this  sin,  they  grieve  away  forever  the 
Spirit  of  God,  and  of  course,  see  no  need  of  Christ,  as 
a  Saviour,  feel  no  desire  for  his  salvation,  and  therefore 
will  never  come  to  him.  Notwithstanding  all  that  is 
said  of  the  unpardonable  sin,  it  still  remains  an  eternal 
truth,  that  no  one  who  comes  to  Christ,  shall  on  any 
account  be  cast  out. 

III.  What  does  this  assertion  imply  ?  It  is  evident 
that  more  is  implied  than  is  expressed.  I  scarcely  need 
tell  you  that  it  implies,  not  only  that  Christ  will  not  ex- 
clude any,  but  that  he  will  receive  all  that  come  to  him  ; 
receive  them  into  his  arms,  his  heart,  his  church,  his 
heaven  ;  that  he  will  do  all  that  for  them  which  he  came 
to  do  for  those  who  trust  in  him  ;  that  he  will  enlighten 
their  minds,  sanctify  their  hearts,  wash  away  their  sins, 
and  save  them  with  an  everlasting  salvation.  This  he 
will  do  for  you,  for  every  one  of  you,  if  you  will  come 
to  him. 

Permit  me  then  to  apply  the  subject  by  pressing  eve- 
ry one  present,  who  has  not  already  embraced  the  Sa- 
viour, to  come  to  him  without  delay.  As  the  mouth  of 
God,  and  in  my  Master's  name,  I  invite  every  one  of 
you  to  do  this.  Our  Creator,  our  God  has  made  a 
great  feast,  a  marriage  feast  for  his  Son ;  a  feast  for 
the  entertainment  of  sinners  ;  a  feast  in  which  all  his 
inexhaustible  stores,  all  the  celestial  dainties  which  in- 
finite wisdom  could  devise,  which  Almighty  power  could 
create,  are  set  forth.  To  this  feast  you  are  now  invi- 
17 


194  CHRIST  REJECTS  NONE 

ted.  No  tickets  of  admission  are  necessary.  The 
Master  of  the  feast  stands  at  the  door  to  receive  you, 
declaring  that  not  one,  who  comes,  shall  be  cast  out ; 
and  as  his  servant,  sent  forth  for  this  very  purpose,  sent 
especially  to  you,  I  now  invite  you  to  come.  I  invite 
you,  children ;  for  there  is  a  place  for  you.  Leave 
your  toys  and  follies  then,  and  come  to  Christ.  I  in- 
vite you  who  are  young ;  for  your  presence  is  especially 
desired.  Leave  your  sinful  amusements  and  compan- 
ions then,  and  come  to  the  Saviour.  I  invite  you  who 
are  in  the  meridian  of  life.  To  you,  O  men,  1  call,  and 
my  voice  is  to  the  sons  of  men.  Particularly  do  I  in- 
vite you,  who  are  parents,  to  come  and  bring  your  chil- 
dren with  you  to  the  Saviour's  feast.  I  invite  you,  who 
are  aged,  to  come  and  receive  from  Christ  a  crown  of 
glory,  which  your  gray  hairs  will  be,  if  you  are  found 
in  the  way  of  righteousness.  I  invite  you  to  come,  ye 
poor,  and  Christ  will  make  you  rich  in  faith  and  heirs 
of  his  kingdom.  I  invite  you  to  come  who  are  rich, 
and  bring  your  wealth  to  Christ,  and  he  will  give  you 
durable  riches  and  righteousness.  1  invite  you,  who  are 
ignorant,  to  come  and  Christ  will  impart  to  you  his  trea- 
sures of  wisdom  and  knowledge.  I  invite  you,  who 
possess  human  learning,  to  come,  and  Christ  will  bap- 
tize your  knowledge,  and  teach  you  to  employ  it  in  the 
most  advantageous  manner.  I  invite  you  who  are  af- 
flicted to  come,  for  my  God  is  the  God  of  all  consola- 
tion, and  my  Master  can  be  touched  with  the  feeling  of 
your  infirmities.  I  invite  you,  who  feel  yourselves  to 
be  the  greatest  of  sinners,  to  come;  for  you  will  find 
many  there,  whose  sins  once  equalled  your  own,  novT 
washed  and  made  white  in  the  blood  of  the  Lamb.  I 
invite  you,  who  have  long  despised,  and  who  still  de- 
spise this  invitation,  to  come  ;  for  Christ's  language  is, 
Hearken  to  me,  ye  stout  hearted,  and  far  from  righte- 
ousness. And  if  there  be  any  one  in  this  assembly,  who 
thinks  himself  overlooked  ;  if  there  be  one  who  has  not 
yet  felt  that  this  invitation  is  addressed  to  him,  I  now 


WHO  COME  UNTO  HIM. 


195 


present  it  to  that  person  particularly,  and  invite  him  to 
come. 

And  now,  my  friends,  I  have  done.  My  directions 
were  to  invite  to  the  Saviour's  marriage  feast  as 
many  as  I  should  find.  I  have  accordingly  invited  all 
and  each  of  you.  I  take  you  to  record,  as  witnesses 
against  each  other,  that  you  have  all  received  the  invi- 
tation. I  take  each  of  your  consciences  to  record,  as  a 
witness  against  yourselves,  that  you  have  been  invited, 
and  as  a  witness  for  me,  that  I  have  discharged  my 
commission.  If  then  any  of  you  do  not  come,  you 
cannot  ascribe  it  to  the  want  of  an  invitation.  If  any 
of  you  perish,  it  will  be,  not  because  Christ  did  not  offer 
to  save  you  ;  nor  because  you  did  not  hear  the  offer,  but 
solely  because  you  would  not  accept  it.  You  are,  there- 
fore, left  without  excuse.  I  am  aware,  however,  that 
you  will  fancy  you  have  an  excuse.  You  will  pretend 
that  you  wish  to  come,  but  are  unable.  My  friends,  I 
know  nothing  of  that*  I  am  not  directed  to  answer  such 
objections.  I  have  nothing  to  do  with  them.  My  busi- 
ness is  simply  to  preach  to  you  the  gospel ;  to  proclaim 
to  you  the  glad  tidings;  to  invite  you  to  Christ,  and  to 
assure  you,  in  his  name,  that,  if  you  come,  you  shall 
most  certainly  be  received.  If  you  say  that  you  cannot 
come  ;  if  you  can  make  God  believe  it ;  if  you  dare  go 
to  the  judgment  seat  with  this  excuse,  and  venture 
your  eternal  interests  on  its  being  accepted  as  sufficient, 
it  is  well.  But  before  you  determine  on  this  course, 
permit  me  to  remind  you,  that  God's  sentiments,  as 
revealed  in  his  word,  differ  very  widely  from  yours,  with 
respect  to  this  excuse.  He  evidently  considers  your 
unwillingness,  or  inability,  or  whatever  you  choose  to 
call  it,  to  come  to  Christ,  as  your  greatest  sin.  He, 
once  and  again,  denounces  upon  you  the  most  dreadful 
punishments  for  this  very  thing.  He  declares,  not  only 
that  all  who  do  not  believe  in  Christ  shall  be  condemned, 
but  that  they  are  condemned  already.  What  you  con- 
sider as  your  best  excuse,  he  considers  as  your  greatest 
sin.    Beware  then,  my  friends,  how  you  make  this  ex- 


196 


CHRIST  REJECTS  NONE 


cuse.  If  you  are  determined  on  making  an  excuse,  say 
any  thing  rather  than  this. 

I  find  in  the  Bible  but  one  person  who  made  this  ex- 
cuse f  but  one  who  attempted  to  justify  himself  by  pre- 
tending that  he  was  unable  to  do  what  his  master  re- 
quired. And  what  answer  did  he  receive  ?  Out  of 
thine  own  mouth  will  I  judge  thee,  thou  wicked  and 
slothful  servant.  My  friends,  if  any  of  you  venture  to 
make  a  similar  excuse,  be  assured  you  will  meet  with 
a  similar  reply.  Nor  will  any  excuse  be  more  success- 
ful ;  for  Christ  has  taught  us,  that  those  who  attempt  to 
excuse  themselves,  as  well  as  those  who  directly  refuse 
to  come,  shall  never  taste  of  his  supper. 

Instead,  therefore,  of  seeking  for  excuses,  which  will 
only  prove  your  destruction,  let  me  persuade  you  rather 
to  comply  with  Christ's  invitations.  With  this  view  per- 
mit me  to  call  your  attention  to  the  moral  sublimity,  the 
grandeur,  the  magnificence,  which  characterize  them. 
Look  unto  me,  and  be  ye  saved,  all  ye  ends  of  the  earth. 
If  any  man  thirst,  let  him  come  unto  me  and  drink. 
Whosoever  will,  let  him  come,  and  him  that  cometh  I 
will  in  no  wise  cast  out.  And  who  is  he  that  dares  utter 
such  language  as  this  ?  Who  dares  thus  stand  in  the 
midst  of  the  world,  of  such  a  world  as  this,  a  thirsty, 
perishing  world,  and  invite  all,  all  its  dying  inhabitants 
without  exception,  to  come  to  him  and  drink  the  waters 
of  life  and  salvation  ?  Can  he  have  room  sufficient  for 
such  an  innumerable  multitude  ?  Has  he  not  reason  to 
fear  that  his  treasures  will  be  exhausted  ?  Does  he 
know  what  he  says  ?  Yes,  my  friends,  he  does  know 
what  he  says  ;  and  he  may  well  say  it,  for  in  him  dwells 
all  the  fulness  of  the  Godhead  bodily.  He  has  enough, 
and  more  than  enough,  for  ten  thousand  such  worlds  as 
this.  And,  my  hearers,  this  is  saying  much  ;  for  reflect 
a  moment  how  much  is  necessary  to  supply  the  wants  of 
a  single  immortal  soul,  through  time  and  through  eterni- 
ty. Think  how  many  souls  there  are,  have  been,  and 
shall  be,  in  the  world.  Think  of  the  innumerable  crim- 
inals, criminals  of  the  most  abandoned  kind,  of  the  mur~ 


WHO  COME  UNTO  HIM.      x  197 

derers,  the  robbers,  the  conquerors,  the  blasphemers, 
the  adulterers,  the  harlots,  the  impious,  hardened  wretches 
who  neither  fear  God  nor  regard  man,  that  have  been, 
and  still  are,  to  be  found  among  mankind.  What  an 
ocean  of  mercy  is  necessary  to  wash  away  their  sins,  to 
make  the  deep  crimson  white  as  snow.  What  an  om- 
nipotence of  grace  is  requisite  to  fit  such  wretches  for 
admission  into  a  heaven  of  spotless  purity,  and  make 
them  holy  as  God.  Yet  all  such  Christ  invites,  all  such 
he  is  able  to  save,  all  such  he  would  save,  would  they 
come  to  him.  Who  then  can  describe,  who  can  con- 
ceive the  ten  thousandth  part  of  that  grace  and  mer- 
cy which  must  be  in  Christ ;  or  of  the  love  which  renders 
him  thus  willing  to  scatter  that  grace  and  mercy  round 
him  upon  the  worthless  and  undeserving.  Is  there  not 
something  inexpressibly  grand,  sublime  and  affecting  in 
the  idea  of  a  being  whose  fulness  enables  him,  whose 
generosity  prompts  to  throw  wide  open  the  door  of  his 
heart,  and  invite  a  dying  world  to  enter  in  and  drink  and 
be  satisfied,  and  live  forever of  a  being  fro,m  whom 
flows  light,  holiness,  and  happiness  sufficient  to  fill  to 
overflowing  all  that  come  to  him,  be  their  numbers  ever 
so  many,  their  sins  and  wants  and  miseries  ever  so  great ; 
of  a  being,  of  whose  fulness  myriads  of  immortal  beings 
may  drink  through  a  whole  eternity  without  exhausting, 
or  even  diminishing  it  in-  the  smallest  degree.  But  per- 
haps, forgetting  what  has  been  said  in  a  former  part  of 
this  discourse,  you  will  say,  this  fountain  is  fenced  round 
with  a  barrier  which  we  cannot  pass.  The  being,  who 
possesses  such  a  fulness  in  himself,  must  from  his  very 
nature  be  so  great,  so  glorious,  so  awful,  that  we  cannot 
approach  him,  must  be  placed  on  a  height  which  is  to 
us  inaccessible.  But  this  conclusion,  though  apparently 
natural,  is  not  just ;  for  all  this  fulness  dwells  in  a  man. 
Yes,  it  is  the  Son  of  man,  who  thus  brings  all  heaven 
down  to  earth.  It  is  the  Son  of  man,  who  thus  has 
power  on  earth  to  forgive  sins,  and  to  save  sinners.  Nor 
is  it  a  man,  like  other  men,  tinctured  with  pride,  or  sel- 
fishness, or  insensibility.  No  ;  it  is  a  man  all  meekness 
17* 


198 


CHRIST  REJECTS  NONE 


and  lowliness  and  gentleness  and  condescension  ;  a  man 
who  is  not  ashamed  to  call  us  brethren  ;  a  man  all  made 
up  of  invitations,  compassion  and  love  ;  a  man,  whose 
every  action,  thought,  and  feeling  combines  with  his  lips 
to  cry,  Come  unto  me,  all  ye  that  are  laboring  and  heavy 
laden,  and  I  will  give  you  rest ;  a  man,  who  finds  more 
pleasure  in  saving  sinners,  than  they  find  in  receiving  sal- 
vation ;  and  who  uttered  the  very  feelings  of  his  heart, 
when  he  said,  It  is  more  blessed  to  give  than  to  receive. 
Nor  does  he,  while  saying  this,  display  a  generosity  which 
costs  him  nothing.    Were  this  the  case,  we  might  the 
less  wonder  at  the  unbounded  riches  of  his  liberality. 
But  it  is  not.    The  blessings  which  he  offers  and  dis- 
penses, inestimable  as  they  are,  cost  him  their  full  value. 
They  cost  thirty-three  years'  labor  of  him,  who  could 
create  a  world  in  six  days.    Nay  more,  they  cost  him 
his  life.    He  paid  the  dreadful  price  in  tears  and  groans 
and  blood,  in  agonies  unutterable.    There  is  not  a  sin- 
gle blessing  he  offers  you,  O  sinner,  which  did  not  cost 
him  a  pang.    He  purchased  the  privilege  of  offering  you 
those  very  blessings  which  you  have  a  thousand  times 
rejected  at  the  price  of  all  that  he  possessed.  Though 
he  was  rich,  yet  for  our  sakes  he  became  poor.  That 
he  might  offer  you  a  mansion  in  heaven,  he  consented 
for  years  to  be  destitute  of  a  place,  where  to  lay  his 
head.    That  he  might  wash  you  from  those  sins  which 
made  you  unfit  for  heaven,  he  poured  out  his  blood  to 
the  last  drop.    That  you  might  be  delivered  from  shame 
and  everlasting  contempt,  he  hid  not  his  sacred  face  from 
shame  and  spitting.  That  you  might  escape  the  wrath  of 
God,  he  bore  it  in  his  own  person,  though  he  fainted,  sunk, 
and  expired  under  the  weight.    That  you,  a  malefactor, 
might  live  forever,  the  Lord  of  life  and  glory  died  as  a 
malefactor  on  the  cross.    And  now  he  offers  you,  with- 
out money  and  without  price,  all  that  cost  him  so  dear. 
He  even  beseeches  you  as  a  favor  to  accept  it,  and  will 
consider  the  joy  arising  from  your  acceptance  and  salva- 
tion as  a  sufficient  recompense  for  all  that  he  suffered  in 
procuring  it.  Yet  this  is  the  being  whom  you  complain  that 


WHO  COMJC  UNTO  HIM. 


199 


you  cannot  love.  This  the  friend,  to  whom  you  think  it 
hard  to  be  grateful.  O,  astonishingly  blinding,  besotting, 
stupefying  influence  of  sin  !  He,  who  has  only  to  show 
his  face  to  fill  all  heaven  with  rapture,  and  pour  a  flood 
of  glory,  light  and  joy  through  the  new  Jerusalem,  cannot 
by  all  his  bounties  bribe,  nor  by  all  his  entreaties  induce 
you  to  love  him ;  though  heaven  is  the  reward  of  loving, 
and  hell  the  punishment  of  rejecting  him.  And  can  you 
indeed  be  content  to  remain  ignorant  of  such  a  being,  to 
remain  a  stranger,  nay,  an  enemy  to  him  forever  ?  Can 
you  consent  to  retain  and  cherish  a  heart,  which  feels 
no  affection,  no  gratitude  for  such  a  benefactor  as  this  ? 
My  friends,  I  would  as  soon  possess  the  heart  of  a  mur- 
derer, of  a  traitor,  nay  of  a  fiend,  as  a  heart  which  turns 
cold  and  insensible  from  a  crucified  Redeemer — from 
bleeding,  dying  love — from  the  perfection  of  moral 
beauty  and  excellence.       *       *       *  * 


SERMON  XIV. 

God  heard  in  the  still  small  Voice. 


1.  KINGS  XIX.  11,  12,  13. 

AND  BEHOLD  THE  LORD  PASSED  BY,  AND  A  GREAT  AND  STRONG  WIND 
RENT  THE  MOUNTAINS,  AND  BRAKE  IN  PIECES  THE  ROCKS  BEFORE 
THE  LORD  }  BUT  THE  LORD  WAS  NOT  IN  THE  WIND  :  AND  AFTER 
THE  WIND  AN  EARTHQUAKE  )  BUT  THE  LORD  WAS  NOT  IN  THE 
EARTHQUAKE  :  AND  AFTER  THE  EARTHQUAKE  A  FIRE  J  BUT  THE 
LORD  WAS  NOT  IN  THE  FIRE  :  AND  AFTER  THE  FIRE  A  STILL 
SMALL  VOICE.  AND  IT  WAS  SO,  WHEN  ELIJAH  HEARD  IT  THAT 
HE  WRAPPED  HIS  FACE  IN  HIS  MANTLE,  AND  WENT  OUT  AND  STOOD 
IN  THE  ENTERING  IN  OF  THE  CAVE  :  AND,  BEHOLD,  THERE  CAME 
A  VOICE  UNTO  HIM,  AND  SAID,  WHAT  DOST  THOU  HERE  ELIJAH  ? 

In  that  part  of  Elijah's  history,  which  is  immediately 
connected  with  this  passage,  we  have  a  striking  exem- 
plification of  the  great  truth,  that  a  good  man,  when 
God  is  with  him,  can  do  all  things,  and  exhibit  almost 
superhuman  excellence  ;  but  that  the  same  person,  when 
God  withdraws  his  secret  influence,  becomes  weak  like 
another  man,  and  can  do  nothing.  In  the  preceding 
chapter  we  see  this  prophet,  unguarded  and  unassisted 
by  any  human  power,  fearlessly  meeting  an  enraged 
monarch  surrounded  by  his  guards,  reproving  him  for 
his  sins,  standing  alone  in  the  midst  of  thousands  who 
thirsted  for  his  blood,  putting  to  death  four  hundred 
false  prophets  before  the  eyes  of  their  idolatrous  sover- 
eign and  protector,  and  with  a  voice,  like  the  voice  of 
omnipotence,  calling  down,  first  fire,  and  then  water  from 
heaven.  Thus  he  could  act  while  God,  by  his  secret 
influence,  inspired  him  with  faith  and  courage  and  zeal. 


GOD  HEARD  IN  THE  STILL  SMALL  VOICE.  201 

But  in  this  chapter  we  see  the  same  prophet  flying  with 
trembling  haste  from  the  threatened  vengeance  of  a  wo- 
man, not  venturing  to  think  himself  safe  till  he  had  fled 
a  day's  journey  into  the  wilderness,  and  in  a  transport  of 
peevishness  and  impatience  wishing  for  death.  Thus 
he  acted  when  God,  to  humble  him  and  shew  him  his 
own  weakness,  left  him  to  himself.  The  unbelief  and 
pusillanimity  which  he  exhibited  on  this  occasion,  de- 
served reproof;  and  in  our  text  we  have  an  account  of 
the  manner  in  which  God  reproved  him.  While  he  lay 
trembling  and  dispirited  in  a  cave  of  Mount  Horeb,  he 
began  to  perceive  the  tokens  of  an  approaching  Deity. 
And,  behold,  the  Lord  passed  by,  and  a  great  and  strong 
wind  rent  the  mountains  and  brake  in  pieces  the  rocks 
before  the  Lord  ;  but  the  Lord  was  not  in  the  wind  : 
and  after  the  wind,  an  earthquake ;  but  the  Lord  was 
not  in  the  earthquake  :  and  after  the  earthquake,  a  fire  ; 
but  the  Lord  was  not  in  the  fire  :  and  after  the  fire,  a 
still  small  voice.  And  when  Elijah  heard  it,  he  wrap- 
ped his  face  in  his  mantle,  and  went  out  and  stood  in 
the  entrance  of  the  cave.  And,  behold,  there  came  a 
voice  to  him  which  said,  what  dost  thou  here  Elijah  % 

My  hearers,  the  manner  in  which  God  manifested 
himself  to  his  prophet  on  this  occasion,  resembles,  in 
many  respects,  the  manner  in  which  he  now  manifests 
himself  to  men,  when  he  comes  to  reprove  them  for 
their  sins,  and  thus  prepare  the  way  for  their  conversion 
and  salvation.  To  trace  this  resemblance,  is  my  design 
in  the  present  discourse. 

1.  When  God  comes  to  reprove  men  for  their  sins, 
he  usually  manifests  himself  to  them,  or  addresses  them, 
not  by  his  works,  either  of  creation  or  providence,  but 
by  a  still  small  voice.  Thus  it  was  in  the  instance  be- 
fore us.  A  tempestuous  wind,  an  earthquake,  and  a  fire 
were  perceived  by  the  prophet ;  but  God  was  in  neither 
of  them.  It  is,  however,  necessary  to  explain  this  as- 
sertion, to  show  in  what  sense  it  is  said  that  God  was  not 
in  the  wind,  the  earthquake,  or  the  fire.  It  is  certain 
that,  in  one  sense,  he  was  in  each  of  them  ;  for  he  is 


202 


GOD  HEARD  IN  THE 


every  where,  working  all  in  all.    They  were  all  the  ef- 
fects of  his  power  9  they  were  all  proofs  of  his  presence, 
and  in  all  of  them  some  of  his  natural  perfections 
might  be  seen.     But  in  another  sense  he   was  in 
none  of  them.    He  was  in  none  of  them  as  a  reprover 
or  instructer.    He  spoke  from  none  of  them.  Neither 
the  wind,  the  earthquake,  nor  the  fire,  said  any  thing  to 
the  prophet  respecting  his  situation,  his  errors,  or  his 
duty.    They  might  all  have  passed  by,  and  left  him  as 
they  found  him,  uninstructed,  unreproved.    In  none  of 
them  did  he  find  God,  in  none  of  them  did  he  hear  his 
voice.    They  were  rather  the  precursors,  the  heralds  of 
the  approaching  Deity,  than  the  Deity  himself.  And 
like  heralds  they  proclaimed,  though  without  a  voice, 
the  greatness,  the  majesty,  and  the  power  of  him  whose 
heralds  they  were.    Or,  like  the  trumpets  which  an- 
nounce the  approach  of  a  monarch,  they  served  to  ex- 
cite expectation,  and  awaken  attention.    But  it  was  in 
the  still  small  voice  alone,  that  God  manifested  his  pres- 
ence to  the  prophet,  as  a  reprover  and  instructer.    In  a 
similar  manner  does  he  still  manifest  himself  to  men  when 
he  comes  to  reprove  and  instruct  them.    His  works 
continually  pass  before  them,  and  in  one  sense  he  is  in 
all  his  works.    He  shines  upon  us  in  the  sun,  he  breathes 
upon  us  in  the  air,  he  supports  us  in  the  earth,  he  stands 
up  before  us  in  every  thing  which  he  has  made,  in  every 
change  and  event  produced  by  his  providence.    But  in 
another  sense,  in  the  sense  of  our  text,  he  is  in  none  of 
these  things.    He  is  not  in  them  in  such  a  sense  that 
men  perceive  his  presence.    He  is  not  in  them  in  such 
a  sense  that  men  find  him  there,  or  hear  him  speak  to 
them.    In  a  word,  he  is  not  in  them  as  an  instructer  or 
reprover.    For  instance,  the  luminaries  of  heaven  have 
a  thousand  times  apparently  passed  over  the  face  of  the 
sky  before  your  eyes  ;  but  with  respect  to  you,  God  was 
not  in  them.    You  saw  him  not  in  the  sun,  you  saw  him 
not  in  the  moon,  in  the  stars.    Again,  you  have  all  known 
something  of  the  force  of  the  winds ;  you  have  felt  your 
habitations  tremble  before  the  fury  of  the  blast.  And 


STILL  SMALL  VOICE. 


203 


not  a  few  of  you  have  witnessed  more  terrible  proofs  of 
its  power  on  the  ocean.  You  have  seen  the  billows 
raised  into  mountains,  and  lashed  into  foam.  You  have 
felt  the  laboring  vessel  reel  under  you,  while  tossed  by 
a  tempest  which  seemed  sufficient  to  rend  the  mountains, 
and  break  in  pieces  the  rocks ;  and  you  have  seen  the 
tempest  become  a  calm.  But  as  it  respected  you,  God 
was  not  in  the  wind,  nor  in  the  calm  which  succeeded. 
You  saw  his  hand,  you  heard  his  voice  in  neither.  If 
you  then  heard  him  in  any  thing,  it  was  in  a  still  small 
voice  within  you.  Further,  the  globe  which  we  inhabit, 
though  not  this  particular  part  of  it,  has  often  been  con- 
vulsed by  the  most  terrible  and  desolating  earthquakes. 
Even  some  parts  of  New  England  have  been  agitated  in 
a  degree  sufficient  to  excite  distressing  apprehensions. 
But  have  the  nations  thus  visited  found  God  in  the  earth- 
quake ?  Did  our  fathers  find  him  there  as  an  instructer  x 
and  reprover  ?  Far  from  it.  Never  have  the  survivors 
been  reformed  by  such  events.  The  earthquakes  in 
New  England  did,  indeed,  occasion  a  kind  of  religious 
panic.  A  writer,  who  was  then  one  of  the  ministers  of 
Boston,  informs  us,  that  immediately  after  the  great 
earthquake  as  it  was  called,  a  great  number  of  his  flock 
came  and  expressed  a  wish  to  unite  themselves  with  the 
church.  But  on  conversing  with  them  he  could  find  no 
evidence  of  improvement  in  their  religious  views  or  feel- 
ings, no  convictions  of  their  own  sinfulness  ;  nothing,  in 
short,  but  a  kind  of  superstitious  fear,  occasioned  by  a 
belief  that  the  end  of  the  world  was  at  hand.  All  their 
replies  proved  that  they  had  not  found  God  in  the  earth- 
quake. 

Again,  you  have  often  heard  the  thunder  bursting  over 
your  heads,  and  seen  the  fires  of  heaven  flashing  thick 
and  dreadful  around  you.  And  more  than  once,  or 
twice,  or  thrice,  you  have  seen  this  town  assailed  by  de- 
vouring flames,  and  in  danger  of  a  wide-wasting 
conflagration.  But  the  succeeding  conduct  of  our 
citizens  sufficiently  proves  that  they  did  not  find  God 
in  the  fire.    If  he  was  there  to  scourge  us,  he  was 


I 


204  GOD  HEARD  IN  THE 

not  there  to  instruct  us,  or  convince  us  of  our  sins. 
And  the  same  remark  may  be  applied  to  numberless 
other  places  which  have  suffered  in  a  far  greater  degree 
than  this  town  by  the  ravages  of  fire.  Once  more,  you 
have  all,  in  a  greater  or  less  degree,  been  afflicted  by 
the  dispensations  of  God's  providence.  Some  of  you 
have  lost  property  ;  some  of  you  children  and  friends  ; 
some  of  you  have  been  visited  by  dangerous  diseases, 
which  brought  death  near ;  but  in  none  of  these  afflic- 
tions did  you  find  God.  You  saw  not  his  hand,  you 
heard  not  his  voice.  It  was  a  chance  that  happened 
to  you. 

I  would  not  however  be  understood  to  mean,  that  the 
works  of  God  and  the  dispensations  of  his  providence 
are  never  made  the  occasion  or  means  of  leading  men 
to  serious  reflection  ;  for  observation  proves  that  they 
very  often  are  so.  Afflictions  have  led  thousands  to  think 
of  their  ways;  and,  in  consequence,  they  have  turned 
their  feet  unto  God's  testimonies.  Still  it  is  true  that 
afflictions  alone  never  produce  this  effect.  So  far  as 
they  produce  any  effect,  it  is  not  in  a  direct,  but  an  indi- 
rect manner.  As  the  tempest,  the  earthquake,  and  the 
fire  roused  the  prophet,  and  prepared  him  to  attend  to 
what  God  would  say  to  him  ;  so  the  works  and  dispen- 
sations of  providence  are  used  to  rouse  thoughtless  sin- 
ners, and  awaken  their  attention  to  the  still  small  voice 
of  Jehovah.  But  they  communicate  no  specific  instruc- 
tion or  reproof.  They  do  not  tell  the  sinner  in  what  re- 
spects he  has  done  wrong,  nor  what  it  is  to  do  right. 
They  may  amaze  him,  they  may  frighten  him,  they  may 
plunge  him  into  distress  and  despondency.  But  they 
leave  him  there.  After  they  have  done  their  utmost, 
the  sinner  is  still  left  without  God  in  the  world,  and 
without  knowledge  of  the  way  in  which  God  may  be 
found.  The  same  may  be  said  of  other  means.  Min- 
isters may  give  voice  and  utterance  to  the  Bible  which 
is  the  word  of  God.  Like  James  and  John  they  may 
be  sons  of  thunder  to  impenitent  sinners.  They  may 
pour  forth  a  tempest  of  impassioned  eloquent  declama- 


STILL  SMALL  VOICE. 


205 


tion.  They  may  proclaim  all  the  terrors  of  the  Lord  ; 
represent  the  earth  as  quaking  and  trembling  under  the 
footsteps  of  Jehovah ;  flash  around  them  the  lightnings  of 
Sinai;  borrow,  as  it  were,  the  trump  of  the  archangel, 
and  summon  the  living  and  the  dead  to  the  bar  of  God  ; 
kindle  before  their  hearers  the  conflagration  of  the  last 
day  and  the  fires  of  eternity,  and  show  them  the  Judge 
descending,  the  heavens  departing  as  a  scroll,  the  ele- 
ments melting,  the  earth  with  its  works  consuming,  and 
all  nature  struggling  in  the  agonies  of  dissolution  ; — and 
still  God  may  not  be  there  ;  his  voice  may  not  be  heard 
either  in  the  tempest,  the  earthquake,  or  the  fire  ;  and  if 
so,  the  preacher  will  have  labored  but  in  vain  ;  his  hearers, 
though  they  may  for  the  moment  be  affected,  will  re- 
ceive no  permanent  salutary  impressions.  Nothing  effec- 
tual can  be  done  unless  God  be  there,  unless  he  speak 
with  his  still  small  voice.  By  this  still,  small  voice  we 
mean  the  voice  of  God's  Spirit ;  the  voice  which  speaks 
not  only  to  man,  but  in  man  ;  the  voice,  which,  in  still- 
ness and  silence,  whispers  to  the  ear  of  the  soul,  and 
presses  upon  the  conscience  those  great  eternal  truths,  a 
knowledge  and  belief  of  which  is  connected  with  salva- 
tion. This  voice  almost  every  sinner  sometimes  hears. 
Most  of  you,  my  friends,  have  heard  it.  Some  of  you 
have  heard  it  in  this  house,  seconding  the  efforts  of  your 
minister,  urging  home  upon  you  the  truths  which  he  ex- 
hibited, and  enforcing  his  endeavors  to  convince  you  of 
sin,  of  righteousness,  and  of  judgment.  Some  of  you 
have  heard  it  in  the  still  and  solitary  hours  of  night,  while 
musing  by  your  firesides,  or  lying  awake  upon  your  beds. 
There  it  has  spoken  to  you,  reminding  you  of  the  truths 
which  you  had  formerly  heard  or  read  ;  and  of  the  sins 
which  you  had  forgotten  ;  it  has  whispered,  You  are  an 
accountable  creature  ;  the  eye  of  God  is  upon  you  ;  he 
has  noticed  all  your  sins,  he  will  bring  you  into  judgment ; 
you  must  repent,  or  perish.  Thus,  while  you  alone 
could  hear  it,  has  the  still  silent  voice  admonished,  warn- 
ed, reproved  and  instructed  you  ;  and  while  you  heard 
it  God  was  there ;  there,  as  he  was  not  in  the  tempest, 
18 


206 


GOD  HEARD  IN  THE 


the  earthquake,  or  the  fire  ;  and  you  felt  the  truth 
of  the  apostle's  assertion,  God  is  not  far  from  every 
one  of  us.  Or  perhaps  you  were  constrained  to  say, 
with  the  patriarch,  Surely  God  is  in  this  place  and  I 
knew  it  not.  Such  is  the  still  small  voice  with  which 
God  speaks,  probably  to  all  sinners,  certainly  to  all  whom 
he  convinces  of  sin,  and  brings  to  a  knowledge  of  him- 
self.   We  remark, 

II.  That  when  God  speaks  to  men  with  this  voice, 
he  speaks  to  them  personally,  or  does,  as  it  were,  call 
them  by  name.  This  he  did  in  the  case  before  us. 
He  addressed  the  prophet  by  his  name,  Elijah.  When 
he  speaks  to  men  in  a  general  way  only,  by  his  written 
word,  or  by  the  voice  of  his  ministers,  he  does  not  ad- 
dress them  in  this  personal  manner.  He  addresses 
characters  and  classes,  not  individuals.  When  this  is 
the  case  no  man  hears  for  himself ;  no  man  feels  that  he 
is  particularly  addressed.  Hence  large  congregations 
often  sit  and  hear  a  message  from  God,  while  perhaps 
not  a  single  individual  among  them  feels  that  the  message 
is  addressed  to  himself,  or  that  he  has  any  personal  con- 
cern in  it.  But  it  is  not  so  when  God  speaks  with  his 
still  small  voice.  Every  one,  to  whom  God  thus  speaks, 
whether  he  be  alone,  or  in  the  midst  of  a  large  assembly, 
feels  that  he  is  spoken  to,  that  he  is  called,  as  it  were, 
by  name.  The  message  comes  home  to  him,  and  says, 
as  Nathan  said  to  David,  Thou  art  the  man.  Hence, 
while  multitudes  are  around  him,  he  sits  as  if  he  were 
alone.  At  him  alone  the  preacher  seems  to  aim.  On 
him  alone  his  eye  seems  to  be  fixed.  To  him  alone 
every  word  seems  to  come.  Absorbed  in  the  truths  thus 
presented,  in  reflecting  on  his  own  conduct,  guilt,  and 
danger,  and  on  the  character  and  commands  ol  God,  he 
is  almost  unconscious  of  the  presence  of  his  fellow  wor- 
shippers ;  his  attention  is  chained  to  the  subject  by  bonds 
which  he  cannot  break,  and  sentence  after  sentence, 
truth  after  truth,  falls  upon  his  ear,  and  is  impressed  on 
his  conscience  with  a  weight,  an  energy,  and  an  efficacy, 
which  omnipotence  alone  can  give.    And  when  God 


STILL  SMALL  VOICE. 


207 


thus  speaks  to  the  whole  or  the  greatest  part  of  an  assem- 
bly at  once,  as  he  sometimes  does,  when  he  comes  to  re- 
vive his  work  extensively,  these  effects  are  experienced, 
and  these  appearances  exhibited  by  all.  No  scene,  on 
this  side  the  bar  of  God,  can  be  more  awfully,  overpow- 
eringly  solemn,  than  the  scene  which  such  an  assembly 
exhibits.  Then  the  Father  of  spirits  is  present  to  the 
spirits  he  has  made  ;  present  to  each  of  them,  and  speak- 
ing to  each.  Each  one  feels  that  the  eye  of  God  is 
upon  him,  that  the  voice  of  God  is  speaking  to  him. 
Each  one  therefore,  though  surrounded  by  numbers, 
mourns  solitary  and  apart.  The  powers  of  the  world  to 
come  are  felt.  Eternity,  with  all  its  crushing  realities, 
opens  to  view,  and  descends  upon  the  mind.  The  final 
sentence,  though  uttered  by  human  lips,  comes  with 
scarcely  less  weight,  than  if  pronounced  by  the  Judge 
himself.  All  countenances  gather  blackness,  and  a  still- 
ness, solemn,  profound,  and  awful,  pervades  the  place, 
interrupted  only  by  a  stifled  sob,  or  a  half  repressed 
sigh.  My  hearers,  such  scenes  have  been  witnessed. 
Within  a  very  few  years  they  have  been  witnessed  in 
hundreds  of  places. 

Nor  need  we  wonder  that  the  still  small  voice  of  God 
should  produce  such  effects.  Look  at  Elijah.  While 
a  tempestuous  wind  rent  the  mountains,  and  broke  in 
pieces  the  rocks  before  his  eyes  ;  while  the  earth  quaked 
under  his  feet,  and  consuming  fires  blazed  around  him, 
he  stood  with  uncovered  face,  undismayed,  unmoved. 
But  no  sooner  was  the  still  small  voice  heard,  than  he 
covered  his  face,  and  put  himself  in  the  posture  of  rev- 
erent, waiting  attention.  Look  at  Moses.  When  he 
saw  miraculous  tokens  of  God's  presence  in  a  burning, 
but  unconsumed  bush,  he  felt  little  other  emotion  than 
curiosity.  But  when  a  still  small  voice  addressed  him 
from  that  bush,  he  hid  his  face  and  was  afraid.  Look 
at  Saul.  When  at  midday  a  light  suddenly  shone  around 
him,  exceeding  the.  brightness  of  the  sun,  it  only  surpri- 
sed him.  But  when  he  heard  a  voice  saying  to  him, 
Saul,  Saul,  why  persecutest  thou  me  ?  he  trembled,  h@ 


208 


GOB  HEARD  IN  THE 


was  confounded,  he  submitted.  So  at  the  present  day, 
thousands  who  have  witnessed  tempests,  and  earthquakes, 
and  fire  ;  who  have  passed  through  floods  of  affliction, 
and  who  have  been  brought  by  sickness  to  the  very  gates 
of  death,  have  returned  from  all  these  scenes  unaffected, 
unmoved.  Yet  altervvards  the  same  persons  have,  by 
the  still  small  voice  of  God,  not  only  been  deeply  im- 
pressed but  permanently  transformed.  Is  not  my  word, 
saith  Jehovah,  as  afire,  and  a  hammer,  which  breaketh 
the  rock  in  pieces  ?    We  remark, 

III.  That,  when  God  speaks  to  men  in  this  still  small 
voice,  he  usually  begins  by  turning  their  attention  upon 
themselves,  their  conduct,  and  situation.  He  said  to  the 
prophet,  What  dost  thou  here,  Elijah  ?  a  question  which 
was  most  admirably  adapted  to  convince,  reprove,  and 
humble  him.  It  was  as  if  God  had  said  to  him,  Is  this 
the  proper  place  for  thee,  a  prophet,  a  reprover,  a  re- 
former ?  Is  this  thy  proper,  thine  appointed  sphere  of 
action  ?  Are  the  people  here  whom  1  sent  thee  to  warn  ? 
If  not,  why  didst  thou  come  here  ?  what  motive  brought 
thee  here  ?  what  art  thou  doing  here  ?  Similar  ques- 
tions in  effect  does  God  propose  to  men  when  he  first 
speaks  to  them  with  his  still  small  voice.  Calling  each 
one,  as  it  were,  by  name,  he  says  to  him,  What  art  thou 
doing  in  the  world  in  which  I  have  placed  thee  ?  what 
hast  thou  done  ?  in  what  pursuits  hast  thou  employed  the 
time  and  the  powers  which  I  have  given  thee  ?  And  to 
these  questions  he  constrains  conscience'  to  give  a  true, 
though  reluctant  answer.  He  makes  her  the  sinner's 
accuser,  makes  her  accuse  him  to  his  face,  of  his  num- 
berless sins  of  omission  and  commission,  of  time  mis- 
spent, of  faculties  misemployed,  of  privileges  misimprov- 
ed,  and  mercies  abused.  At  the  same  time  he  refutes 
all  the  sinner's  objections  and  arguments  ;  shows  him,  as 
he  did  Elijah,  the  fallacy  of  his  excuses  ;  strips  him  of 
all  his  vain  pleas,  and  lays  him  speechless  and  self  con- 
demned at  the  footstool  of  sovereign  mercy.  O  what  a 
long  train  of  self-accusing  thoughts  and  reflections  is  put 
in  motion  by  the  short  questions,  What  art  thou  doing  ? 


STILL  SMALL  VOICE. 


209 


what  hast  thou  done  ?  when  they  are  pressed  upon  a  sin- 
ner's conscience  by  the  still  small  voice  of  God.  And 
it  is  obvious  to  remark,  that  an  attention  to  these  ques- 
tions is  the  first  thing  necessary  to  a  careless  sinner. 
Until  he  considers  what  he  has  been  doing  in  the  world, 
he  will  see  nothing  of  bis  sinfulness,  guilt,  and  danger ; 
he  will  not  know  of  what  to  repent,  he  will  not  feel  his 
need  of  a  Saviour.  Hence  our  Divine  Teacher  informs 
us,  that,  when  the  Spirit  of  God  comes,  he  will  reprove 
the  world  of  sin  ;  that  is,  he  will  make  men  see  what 
they  have  been  doing,  he  will  show  them  what  they  ought 
to  have  done,  and  thus  convince  them  how  widely  their 
temper  and  conduct  have  differed  from  the  rule  of  recti- 
tude, the  will  of  their  Maker.  And  when  they  are  brought 
to  repentance,  the  same  still  small  voice  will  whisper  to 
them  assurances  of  pardon  and  peaca;  for  the  Lord  will 
speak  peace  to  his  people  and  his  servants,  and  his  Spirit 
shall  witness  with  their  spirits.,  that  they  are  the  children 
of  God. 

A  few  reflections  and  inferences  will  conclude  the  dis- 
course. 

1.  We  may  learn  from  this  subject,  my  Christian 
friends,  to  expect  the  conversion  of  sinners,  not  from  any 
means  or  instruments  however  apparently  powerful,  but 
from  the  Spirit  of  God  alone.  I  am  indeed  aware  that 
your  understandings  are  already  perfectly  convinced  of 
this  truth  ;  but  our  feelings  do  not  always  correspond 
with  it.  We  are  sometimes  ready  to  think  that,  if  God 
would  work  miracles  or  send  some  extraordinary  calam- 
ity, sinners  would  be  converted,  or  at  least  convinced  of 
their  sins.  But  at  such  times  we  forget  that  God  is  not 
in  the  whirlwind,  the  earthquake,  and  the  fire ;  that  he 
usually  speaks  in  a  still  small  voice.  At  other  times, 
after  hearing  a  sermon  which  has  appeared  to  them  re- 
markably solemn  and  impressive,  Christians  will  say, 
Certainly  this  sermon  cannot  fail  of  producing  some  sal- 
utary effects.  But  they  forget  that,  unless  the  still  small 
voice  of  God  has  also  spoken,  no  salutary  effect  will  fol- 
low. Whenever  the  work  is  done,  it  is  effected  not  by 
18* 


210  GOD  HEARD  IN  THE 

might,  nor  by  power,  but  by  my  Spirit,  saith  the  Lord 
of  Hosts.  Let  us  then,  above  all  things,  desire  and  pray, 
that  the  Spirit  and  the  still  small  voice  of  God  may  ac- 
company the  preaching  of  the  gospel.  This  will  prove 
far  more  efficacious  than  tempest,  and  earthquakes,  and 
fire  ;  and  without  this,  not  only  all  the  apostles  but  all 
the  angels,  would  preach  in  vain. 

2.  If  the  truth  of  the  preceding  remarks  be  allowed, 
it  will  follow,  that  what  we  call  conversion  and  the  other 
effects  produced  by  the  preaching  of  the  gospel  are  not 
a  mere  excitement  of  the  passions  or  animal  feelings. 
Some  seem  to  suppose  that  this  is  the  case,  and  that 
those  whom  we  call  converts  have  been  merely  ter- 
rified or  agitated  by  addresses  to  their  passions.  But 
were  this  the  case,  the  tempest,  the  earthquake  and 
the  fire  would  be  the  most  effectual  means  of  producing 
conversion,  and  the  preacher,  who  could  most  eloquent- 
ly and  powerfully  address  the  passions  of  his  audience, 
would  always  be  the  most  successful  preacher.  But 
this  is  by  no  means  the  fact.  A  plain  simple  exhibition 
of  the  truth  by  men  of  very  moderate  abilities  and  at- 
tainments has,  in  hundreds  of  instances,  produced  far 
greater  effects,  than  the  most  impassioned  and  eloquent 
appeals  which  ever  issued  from  mortal  lips.  The  fact 
is,  that  when  persons  are  converted,  they  are  converted 
not  because  their  passions  have  been  addressed,  not  be- 
cause they  have  been  agitated  or  terrified,  but  because 
the  still  small  voice  of  God  has  spoken  to  them,  spoken 
within  them,  and  taught  them  what  they  have  been  doing, 
what  they  are  doing,  and  what  they  ought  to  have  done. 
It  is  this  alone  which  has  given  to  the  preachers  of  the 
gospel  all  the  success  which  they  have  ever  met  with. 
It  was  this  which  made  the  preaching  of  the  apostles  suc- 
cessful. They  went  forth  and  preached  every  where  > 
that  men  should  repent,  the  Lord  working  with  thein. 
It  was  this  which  rendered  the  preaching  of  their  imme- 
diate disciples  successful.  They  spoke  the  word,  and 
the  hand  of  the  Lord  was  with  them,  and  much  people 
were  turned  to  the  Lord.    And  St.  Paul  declares  that 


STILL  SMALL  VOICE. 


211 


though  he  planted  and  Apollos  watered  the  churches,  it 
was  God  alone  who  gave  the  increase.  Conversion  then 
is,  and  always  has  been  the  work  of  God.  It  is  not  a 
delusion,  a  fancy,  or  an  effect  of  human  eloquence  ;  but 
a  necessary  prerequisite  to  admission  into  heaven,  and 
our  Saviour's  declaration,  Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  you, 
except  ye  be  converted,  ye  shall  in  no  wise  enter  the 
kingdom  of  God,  is  still  as  true  as  it  is  solemn  and  inter- 
esting. 

To  conclude,  permit  me  now,  my  hearers,  in  God's 
name  to  press  upon  each  of  you  the  question  in  our  text. 
In  doing  this  I  would  not,  if  I  could,  surround  you  with 
tempests,  and  earthquakes,  and  fires ;  for  God  would 
not  be  in  them.  Nor  would  T,  were  it  in  my  power, 
pour  forth  a  torrent  of  impassioned  eloquence  and  tu- 
multuously  agitate  your  passions.  On  the  contrary,  I 
wish  you  to  be  cool,  calm,  collected,  and  self-possessed. 
I  wish  the  voice  of  passion  and  every  other  voice  to  be 
hushed  within  you,  that  the  still  small  voice  of  God  may 
speak  and  be  heard.  And  nothing  but  a  faint  hope  that 
he  will  speak,  at  least  to  some  present,  encourages  me 
to  address  you.  Hoping  and  praying  that,  while  I  ad- 
dress his  question  to  your  ears,  his  own  still  small  voice 
may  address  it  to  each  of  your  hearts,  I  ask  every 
individual  present  in  his  name,  What  dost  thou  here  ? 
What  art  thou  doing,  mortal  and  accountable  creature, 
in  the  world  wherever  I  have  placed  thee  ?  Art  thou 
performing  the  duty  I  have  assigned  thee  ?  Art  thou 
faithfully  serving  and  glorifying  me  thy  Creator  ?  Art 
thou  working  out  the  salvation  of  thine  immortal  soul 
with  fear  and  trembling  1  Or  art  thou  living,  hast  thou 
lived  only  to  gratify  or  enrich,  or  exalt  thyself,  while 
me,  the  God  in  whose  hand  thy  breath  is,  and  whose 
are  all  thy  ways,  thou  hast  not  glorified,  art  not  glorify- 
ing ?  Again  ;  what  dost  thou,  mortal,  accountable  crea- 
ture, here  in  this  house  of  thy  God  }  Hast  thou  come 
here  to  worship  me  in  spirit  and  in  truth  ;  to  confess  thy 
sins  and  obtain  pardon  ;  to  offer  supplication  and  thanks- 
giving and  praise  to  me,  and  to  learn  thy  duty  with  a  de- 


212 


GOD  HEARD,  &C. 


termination  to  perform  it  ?  Or  hast  thou  come,  thou 
canst  scarcely  tell  why,  come  to  provoke  me  by  formal 
and  heartless  services,  to  assume  the  posture  of  devotion, 
but  to  offer  no  prayer,  to  sit  and  hear  my  words,  but  do 
them  not,  and  to  cover  wandering  thoughts  and  an  in- 
sensible heart  with  a  serious  eoimtenance  ?  My  hearers, 
the  questions  of  your  God  cud  your  Judge  are  before 
you.  If  you  have  heard  my  voice  alone  propose  them, 
they  will  pass  unheeded  and  soon  be  forgotten.  But  if 
the  still  small  voice  of  God  has  pressed  them  upon  your 
consciences,  they  cannot  pass  unheeded ;  they  will 
be  remembered,  and  they  will  be  followed  by  effects 
which  neither  tempest,  nor  earthquake,  nor  fire  could 
produce* 


SERMON  XV. 

The  Day  of  small  Things  not  to  be  despised* 
ZECHAR1AH  IV.  10. 

WHO  HATH  DESPISED  THE  DAY  OF  SMALL  THINGS  ? 

These  words  were  addressed  by  Jehovah  to  his  an- 
cient people,  soon  after  their  return  from  the  Babylonish 
captivity.  They  were  then  few  in  number,  poor,  fee- 
ble, and  on  the  point  of  being  swallowed  up  by  their 
enemies.  But  notwithstanding  all  these  discouraging 
circumstances  they  proceeded,  almost  immediately  after 
their  return,  to  lay  the  foundations  of  a  temple  for  the 
worship  of  God.  It  may  well  be  supposed  that,  in  point 
of  richness  and  magnificence,  there  would  be  a  wide 
difference  between  such  an  edifice,  as  these  poor  cap- 
tives could  build,  and  that  which  had  previously  been 
erected  by  the  wisest  and  wealthiest  of  monarchs.  There 
was  so  ;  and  those  among  them  who  had  seen  the  tem- 
ple of  Solomon,  wept  aloud  when  they  saw  the  founda- 
tions of  the  new  temple  laid,  on  account  of  its  compar- 
ative meanness.  Indeed,  they  seem  to  have  felt  as  if 
such  a  temple  were  not  worth  finishing  ;  and  their  un- 
reasonable, ill-timed  contempt  of  it,  combined  with  oth- 
er circumstances,  so  much  discouraged  their  brethren, 
that  for  several  vears  little  was  done  towards  its  com- 
pletion.  It  was  with  a  view  to  reanimate  them,  and  to 
encourage  their  exertions,  that  the  message  contained 
_  in  this  chapter  was  sent.  In  this  message  God  reprov- 
ed those  who  had  regarded  the  new  temple  with  con- 


214  THE  DAY  OF  SMALL  THINGS 

tempt,  and  those  also  who  thought  that  they  were  una- 
ble to  finish  it.  He  informed  them  that  the  work  was 
his,  that  it  was  to  be  effected  not  by  human  might  nor 
power  but  by  his  Spirit ;  that  Zerubbabel,  who  had  laid 
the  foundations,  should  live  to  place  the  top  stone,  shout- 
ing, Grace,  grace,  unto  it ;  and  that  those  who  had  de- 
spised the  day  of  small  things,  or,  in  other  words,  the 
feeble  commencement  of  the  work,  should  witness  its 
completion. 

In  farther  discoursing  on  the  passage  before  us,  I 
shall  endeavor  to  shew, 

I.  That  in  all  God's  works,  especially  in  his  works 
of  grace,  which  are  effected  not  by  might,  nor  by  pow- 
er, but  by  his  Spirit,  there  is  usually  a  day  of  small 
things  ; 

II.  That  many  often  despise  this  day  ;  and 

III.  That  it  ought  not  to  be  despised. 

I.  In  all  the  works  of  God,  and  especially  in  his 
works  of  grace,  which  are  effected  not  by  might,  nor 
by  power,  but  by  his  Spirit,  there  is  usually  a  day  of 
small  things  ;  that  is,  in  other  words,  there  is  a  season 
in  which  his  work  makes  but  a  very  small  and  unprom- 
ising appearance.  All  that  is  necessary  to  convince  you 
of  the  truth  of  this  assertion  is  to  refer  you  to  some  of 
God's  works.  Look  at  his  works  of  creation.  It  was 
a  day  of  small  things  with  this  world,  when  it  lay  a 
wild  chaotic  mass  without  form  and  void,  and  shrouded 
in  darkness.  Look  at  his  works  of  providence.  The 
oak  was  once  an  acorn  ;  the  mightiest  rivers  may  be 
traced  back  to  an  insignificant  rivulet  or  spring ;  the 
philosopher,  the  warrior,  the  statesman,  the  poet,  was 
once  an  infant ;  the  powerful  civilized  nation  was  once 
a  horde  of  savages.  But  it  is  especially  to  God's  works 
of  grace,  that  the  remark  under  consideration  refers  ; 
and  to  them  we  must  especially  look  for  illustrations  of 
its  truth.  It  was  a  day  of  small  things  with  the  Old  Tes- 
tament church,  when  Abraham  and  his  family  were  its 
only  members.  It  was  a  day  of  small  things  with  the 
New  Testament  church,  when  all  its  members  could  as« 


NOT  TO  BE  DESPISED. 


215 


semble  in  one  small  room,  and  sit  down  at  one  table. 
And  every  branch  of  this  church,  wherever  planted,  and 
however  flourishing  it  may  now  be,  has  had  its  day  of 
small  things.  It  was  such  a  day  with  the  church  of 
Christ  in  New  England,  when  all  its  members  disem- 
barked from  one  vessel,  and  worshipped  God  on  the 
barren  shore,  without  a  sanctuary,  and  without  even  a 
habitation  to  shelter  them.  And  probably  there  is  not 
a  church  in  this  country,  which  was  not  for  a  time  small 
and  feeble,  and  obliged  to  struggle  with  many  difficul- 
ties. Similar  remarks  may  be  made  respecting  all  the 
societies  and  institutions  which  have  been  formed  for 
the  promotion  and  diffusion  of  Christianity.  Look,  for 
instance,  at  the  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society,  at 
the  Baptist  Missions  in  the  East,  at  Sabbath  Schools, 
and  at  all  the  National  Societies  which  have  been  form- 
ed for  the  education  of  ministers,  for  sending  missiona- 
ries to  the  heathen,  and  for  the  distribution  of  tracts. 
Compared  with  what  they  now  [1824]  are,  they  were 
originally  but  as  the  acorn  compared  to  the  oak. 

Similar  remarks  may  be  made  respecting  God's  work 
ofgraceinthe  hearts  of  individuals.  Every  Christian 
has  his  day,  and  almost  all  Christians,  alas,  much  too 
long  a  day  of  small  things ;  a  day  in  which  his  love, 
faith,  and  hope,  knowledge,  usefulness,  and  comfort 
are  small.  Look  at  Nicodemus.  It  was  |«ch  a  time  with 
him  when  he  came  to  Jesus  by  night.  Look  at  the 
twelve  disciples.  It  was  such  a  time  with  them  until 
after  the  day  of  Pentecost.  They  were  foolish,  and 
slow  of  heart  to  believe ;  they  were  altogether  in  an  er- 
ror respecting  the  nature  of  that  kingdom  which  Christ 
came  to  establish,  and  there  were  frequent  strifes  among 
them  who  should  be  the  greatest.  Look  at  the  Corin- 
thian Christians.  I,  brethren,  says  St.  Paul,  could  not 
speak  unto  you  as  spiritual,  but  as  carnal,  even  as  unto 
babes  in  Christ.  This  language  intimates,  not  only  that 
the  Corinthians  had  made  little  progress  in  religion,  but 
that  babes  in  Christ  or  young  Christians  generally,  are  . 
in  many  respects  carnal,  and  by  no  means  distinguished 


216 


THE  DAY  OF  SMALL  THINGS 


for  spirituality.  Look  too  at  the  Hebrew  Christians. 
Ye  need,  says  an  Apostle,  that  one  teach  you  what  be 
the  first  principles  of  the  oracles  of  God,  and  are  be- 
come such  as  have  need  of  milk,  . and  not  of  strong  meat. 
For  every  one  that  useth  milk  is  unskilful  in  the  word 
of  righteousness,  for  he  is  a  babe.  If  we  turn  from  the 
primitive,  to  modern  Christians,  we  shall  find  at  least 
equally  striking  proofs  that,  generally  speaking,  they  all 
have  a  day  of  small  things.  With  many  who,  we  hope, 
are  Christians,  this  day  continues  through  life.  Indeed, 
in  comparison  with  what  Christians  will  be  hereafter,  in 
comparison  with  the  spirits  of  just  men  made  perfect,  the 
attainments  of  the  most  eminent  Christians  in  this  world 
are  but  small  things,  and  their  whole  life  but  a  day  of 
small  things.  It  was  St.  John  who  said,  It  doth  not  yet 
appear  what  we  shall  be.  It  was  St.  Paul  who  said,  I 
have  not  attained  ;  I  know  but  in  part ;  we  see  through 
a  glass  darkly.  In  fine,  the  kingdom  of  God  here  be- 
low, whether  we  contemplate  it  as  set  up  in  the  world, 
or  in  the  hearts  of  individual  Christians,  is  at  first  but  as 
a  grain  of  mustard  seed,  sown  in  the  earth,  or  as  a  stone 
cut  from  a  mountain. 

II.  Many  persons  despise  the  day  of  small  things, 
which  attends  the  commencement  of  God's  works. 
His  enemies  do  so.  What  do  these  feeble  Jews?  said 
some  of  his  ancient  enemies.  Will  they  fortify  them- 
selves ?  will  they  make  an  end  in  a  day  ?  Will  they 
revive  the  stones  out  of  the  heaps  of  rubbish  that  are 
burnt?  If  but  a  fox  go  up,  he  shall  break  down  their 
wall.  With  at  least  equal  contempt  was  Christianity 
regarded  both  by  Jews  and  Gentiles,  while  its  day  of 
small  things  continued.  And  the  same  contempt  is  felt 
and  expressed  by  multitudes  of  its  enemies  at  the  pres- 
ent day,  with  respect  to  the  attempts  which  are  making 
to  evangelize  the  world.  You  need  not  be  informed  that 
ridicule  is  thrown  with  liberal  hand  upon  the  hopes  and 
labors  of  missionaries  among  the  heathen,  and  upon  the 
expectation  which  Christians  entertain  of  the  conversion 
of  the  world.    Because  it  is  now  a  day  of  small  things 


# 

NOT  TO  BE  DESPISED 


217 


with  respect  to  this  work,  because  comparatively  few  of 
the  heathens  have  as  yet  embraced  Christianity,  many 
of  its  avowed  and  secret  enemies  look  with  scorn  upon 
all  attempts  to  extend  its  influence,  and  gravely  tell  us, 
that  the  conversion  of  the  heathen  is  impossible,  and 
that  even  if  it  is  to  be  desired,  which  they  seem  to  doubt, 
it  is  not  to  be  expected.  With  at  least  equal  contempt 
do  many  of  them  look  upon  the  commencement  of  God's 
work  of  grace  in  the  hearts  of  individuals  around  them, 
and  stigmatise  it  as  the  effect  of  weakness,  superstition, 
or  enthusiasm. 

In  the  second  place,  not  only  the  enemies,  but  even 
the  friends  of  God,  sometimes  despise  the  day  of  small 
things,  which  attends  his  work  during  its  infancy.  They 
did  so  in  the  instance  referred  to  in  our  text.  They 
have  done  so  in  many  instances  since.  We  do  not  mean 
that,  like  his  enemies,  they  regard  his  work  with  abso- 
lute contempt.  But  they  think  too  little  of  it ;  they  un- 
dervalue it,  and  they  are  by  no  means  sufficiently  thank- 
ful for  it;  and  may  therefore  be  said,  comparatively 
speaking,  to  despise  it.  This  instance,  is  some- 
times the  case  at  the  commencement  of  a  revival  of  re- 
ligion, especially  when  it  commences  and  proceeds  in  a 
gentle  and  gradual  manner,  and  is  confined  to  individu- 
als of  little  weight  in  society.  In  such  circumstances,  a 
considerable  portion  of  the  church,  which  is  thus  favor- 
ed,  are  often  guilty,  in  a  greater  or  less  degree,  of  de- 
spising the  day  of  small  things.  They  wish  to  see  the 
wealthy,  the  learned,  and  the  great,  brought  to  the  foot 
of  the  cross  ;  or,  at  least,  to  see  great  numbers  convert- 
ed ;  and  because  they  do  not  see  this,  they  will  scarcely 
allow  that  there  is  any  thing  to  encourage  exertion,  or 
call  forth  thankfulness.  1  leave  it  with  your  Conscien- 
ces, my  professing  friends,  to  deeide  whether  a  consid- 
erable part  of  this  church  has  not  more  than  once  exem- 
plified these  remarks.  Still  more  frequently,  perhaps, 
are  Christians  guilty  of  despising,  or  too  lightly  esteem- 
ing the  work  of  God  in  their  own  hearts.  Forgetting 
that  the  Christian  must  be  an  infant,  a  child,  and  a  youth 
19 


218 


THE  DAY  OF  SMALL  THINGS 


before  he  can  arrive  at  the  stature  of  a  perfect  man  in 
Christ  Jesus,  they  wish,  and  seem  to  expect  to  become 
men  at  once  ;  and  when  these  unscriptural  expectations 
are  disappointed  ;  when  they  find  that  with  respect  to 
their  knowledge,  faith,  comfort,  and  usefulness,  their 
day  is  a  day  of  small  things,  they  are  too  often  ready  to 
feel  as  if  nothing  had  been  done  for  them  ;  and  as  if  so 
small  a  portion  of  grace,  as  they  possess,  were  scarcely 
worth  cultivating.  Hence,  while  looking  for  great  things, 
they  overlook  small  things  5  and  neglect  those  means 
and  exertions,  by  which  alone  small  things  can  ever  be 
made  to  become  great.  Others  go  still  farther,  and  be- 
cause they  do  not  find  in  themselves  so  much  religion 
as  they  wished  and  expected,  will  not  allow  that  they 
possess  a  particle.  Hence  they  will  not  unite  with  the 
friends  of  Christ,  will  not  confess  him  before  men,  will 
not  commemorate  his  dying  love  ;  as  if  these  duties  and 
privileges  were  reserved  exclusively  for  mature  and  em- 
inent Christians.  In  these,  and  various  other  ways, 
which  time  will  not  allow  me  to  particularize,  Chris- 
tians are  often  guilty  of  despising  the  day  of  small  things. 

I  proceed  now,  as  was  proposed, 

III.  To  state  some  reasons  why  it  ought  not  to  be 
despised. 

1.  We  ought  not  to  despise  the  day  of  small  things, 
because  such  conduct  tends  to  prevent  its  becoming  a 
day  of  great  things.  If  all  the  Jews  had  despised  the 
foundations  of  the  temple,  as  some  of  them  did,  they 
would  never  have  exerted  themselves  to  finish  it.  So 
those  who  despise  the  day  of  small  things,  where  missions 
are  concerned,  will  do  little  to  promote  them.  None 
who  despise  a  small  revival  of  religion  will  make  the 
exertions  which  are  necessary  to  render  it  great.  And 
the  Christian,  who  despises  or  overlooks  the  blessings 
which  he  has  already  received,  will  not  seek  and  pray 
with  proper  earnestness  for  greater  blessings.  Besides, 
despising  the  day  of  small  things  always  involves  much 
ingratitude.  It  is  practically  saying,  we  have  nothing  to 
be  thankful  for,    It  leads  us,  instead  of  blessing  God  for 


NOT  TO  BE  DESPISED. 


219 


what  he  has  given,  to  murmur  because  he  does  not  give 
more.  And  this  directly  tends  to  prevent  him  from  giv- 
ing more.  It  is  a  very  trite  but  a  very  just  remark,  that 
the  way  to  obtain  much,  is  to  be  thankful  for  a  little. 
As  it  respects  the  attainment  of  blessings  from  heaven, 
this  remark  is  especially  true.  Thanksgivings  are  at 
least  as  efficacious  as  prayers.  And  ingratitude  will 
shut  the  ear  of  God  against  the  most  fervent  prayers. 
Let  none  then  despise  the  day  of  small  things,  unless 
they  wish  to  prevent  it  from  becoming  a  day  of  great 
things. 

2.  We  ought  not  to  despise  the  day  of  small  things, 
because  the  inhabitants  of  heaven,  whose  judgment  is 
according  to  truth,  do  not  despise  it.  Angels  do  not. 
No,  they  rejoice  over  one  sinner  that  repenteth.  Though 
it  be  a  poor  sinner,  an  ignorant  sinner,  a  despised  indi- 
vidual, still  they  rejoice.  They  rejoice,  though  the 
work  is  but  just  begun,  and  though  its  glory  is  obscured 
by  many  remaining  defects,  weaknesses  and  imperfec- 
tions ;  evils  which  they  see  incomparably  more  clearly 
than  we  do.  Now  there  is  not,  I  believe,  a  single  pro*  , 
testant  missionary  establishment  in  the  world,  which  has 
not  been  the  means  of  converting  at  least  one  individual. 
There  is  not  then  a  proteslant  missionary  establishment 
on  earth,  which  has  not  occasioned  joy  in  heaven.  Of 
course,  there  is  not  one  which Js  despisedln  heaven. 

Again  ;  our  Saviour  does  not  despise  the  day  of  small 
things.  It  was  said  of  him,  The  bruised  reed  he  will 
not  break,  and  the  smoking  flax  he  will  not  quench ; 
he  will  bring  forth  judgment  unto  victory.  In  this  pre- 
diction young  and  feeble  Christians,  who  have  but  lit- 
tle grace,  are  compared  to  the  wick  of  an  extinguished 
lamp,  in  which  but  a  spark  of  fire  remains.  It  does  not 
burn  brightly,  it  sends  forth  no  flame;  but  it  emits 
smoke,  and  that  smoke  mounts  upward, — a  fit  emblem 
of  the  weakest  Christian,  whose  desire's,  though  faint 
and  few,  ascend  to  heaven.  Yet  even  such  a  disciple 
as  this,  the  compassionate  Saviour  does  not  despise,  and 
will  not  reject.    No,  he  feeds  his  flock  like  a  shepherd  ; 


220 


THE  DAY  OF  SMALL  THINGS 


he  gathers  the  lambs  with  his  arms  and  carries  them  in  his 
bosom.  See  these  remarks  verified  in  his  treatment  of 
Nieodemus.  Instead  of  despising  him  for  his  coward- 
ice, ignorance,  and  slowness  to  learn,  our  Saviour  re- 
ceived him  kindly,  and  gave  up  his  own  necessary  rest, 
for  the  sake  of  communicating  instruction  to  his  mind. 
Look  too  at  the  manner  in  which  Jesus  treated  his 
twelve  disciples,  and  at  his  interview  with  Thomas,  with 
Mary  Magdalene,  and  with  Cleophas  after  his  resurrec- 
tion ;  and  you  will  be  convinced  that  while  on  earth 
he  did  not  despise  the  day  of  small  things.  Nor 
does  he  now  despise  it.  Even  so  small  a  gift  as  a 
cup  .of  cold  water  to  the  meanest  of  his  disciples,  if  given 
for  his  sake,  he  does  not  despise.  The  feeble  minded 
and  the  weak  he  commands  his  ministers  to  support  and 
comfort.  Them  that  are  weak  in  faith  he  commands 
his  churches  to  receive.  Hear  too  what  he  says  to  one 
of  his  feeble  churches  ;  I  have  set  before  thee  an  open 
door,  and  no  man  can  shut  it ;  and  I  will  make  thine 
enemies  to  come  and  worship  at  thy  feet,  and  to  know 
that  I  have  loved  thee,  for  thou  hast  a  little  strength. 

Once  more  ;  our  heavenly  Father  does  not  despise  the 
day  of  small  things.  Hear  what  he  said  of  a  child,  the 
son  of  Jeroboam  :  In  him  is  found  some  good  thing"  to- 
ward the  Lord  God  of  Israel ;  therefore  he  alone  of  the 
house  of  Jeroboam  shall  come  to  his  grave  in  peace. 
Look  also  at  the  parable  of  the  prodigal  son.  When  he 
was  yet  a  great  way  off,  his  father  saw  him,  and  had  com- 
passion, and  ran  and  fell  on  his  neck,  and  kissed  him.  In 
fine,  as  those  of  you  who  are  parents  do  not  despise,  but 
are  pleased  with  the  first  stammering  accents  of  your 
children,  especially  when  they  lisp  the  words,  father, 
mother,  so  our  heavenly  Father  listens  with  pleasure  to 
the  first  feeble,  imperfect  prayers  of  his  children,  when, 
guided  by  the  Spirit  of  adoption,  they  come  lisping, 
Abba,  Father.  Now  if  angels,  if  our  Redeemer,  and 
our  heavenly  Father,  do  not  despise  the  day  of  small 
things,  surely  it  does  not  become  us,  imperfect  creatures, 
to  despise  it. 


NOT  TO  BE  DESPISED. 


221 


3.  We  ought  not  to  despise  the  day  of  small  things, 
because  these  things,  though  small,  are  of  unspeakable 
value.  Inspiration  styles  faith  precious  faith,  and  de- 
clares that  it  is  more  valuable  than  gold  tried  in  the  fire. 
Indeed  it  is  so ;  for  it  is  the  gift  of  God,  and  who  shall 
despise  his  gifts  ?  It  is  the  work  of  God,  and  there  are 
no  works  like  his  works.  The  man,  whose  faith  is  but 
as  a  grain  of  mustard  seed,  is  interested  in  all  the  prom- 
ises of  the  gospel  ;  he  is  a  child  of  God,  a  joint-heir 
with  Christ,  of  the  heavenly  inheritance.  In  fine,  grace, 
the  least  particle  of  grace,  is  glory  begun  ;  and  all  the 
figures  which  man  ever  made,  were  they  placed  in  one 
line,  with  worlds  for  units,  could  not  express  the  ten 
thousandth  part  of  its  value.  How  irrational  then  to 
despise  what  is  so  infinitely  valuable. 

Finally.  We  ought  not  to  despise  the  day  of  small 
things,  because  it  is  the  commencement  of  a  day  of  great 
things.  It  will  become  so,  because  these  small  things 
are  the  work  of  God  ;  and  as  for  God,  his  work  is  per- 
fect, and  what  he  doth  shall  be  forever.  He  never  leaves 
his  work  unfinished  ;  for  his  language  is,  I  will  work,  and 
who  shall  let  it  ?  when  I  begin,  I  will  make  an  end. 
These  predictions  will  be  verified  in  the  future  success 
of  missionary  exertions,  and  the  final  universal  prevalence 
of  Christianity.  The  stone  cut  from  the  mountain  with- 
out hands,  shall  itself  become  a  mountain,  and  fill  the 
whole  earth.  The  streams  of  divine  knowledge,  which 
now  flow  in  scanty  rivulets,  shall  become  broad  and  deep 
rivers,  and  overflow  the  world  ;  for  the  knowledge  of 
the  Lord  shall  fill  the  earth,  even  as  the  waters7  fill  the 
seas.  A  little  one  shall  become  a  thousand  and  a  small 
one  a  strong  nation.  I  the  Lord  will  hasten  it.  These 
predictions  will  also  be  verified  with  respect  to  God's 
work  of  grace  in  the  heart  of  every  believer ;  for  he  who 
begins  a  good  wTork  in  the  heart,  will  perform  it  to  the 
day  of  Christ  Jesus  ;  so  that  the  weakest  disciple  may 
boldly  say,  with  the  psalmist,  The  Lord  will  perfect  that 
which  concerneth  me  ;  he  will  guide  with  his  counsel 
and  afterwards  receive  me  to  glory.  Yes,  that  tender 
19* 


222  THE  DAY  OF   SMALL  THINGS 

plant,  that  bruised  reed,  which  trembles  before  every 
breeze,  is  the  planting  of  the  Lord,  and  shall  become  a 
tree  of  righteousness.  That  smoking  wick  shall  burn 
bright.  That  poor,  despised,  ignorant,  feeble  Christian, 
who  is  now  but  a  babe  in  grace,  shall  become  a  youth,  a 
perfect  man  in  Christ  Jesus ;  for  God  will  strengthen 
him,  yea,  he  will  help  him  ;  yea,  he  will  uphold  him  with 
the  right  hand  of  his  righteousness.  In  a  word,  the 
weakest  Christian  now  on  earth,  shall  one  day  be  among 
the  spirits  of  just  men  made  perfect ;  shall  be  equal  to 
the  angels  ;  shall  shine  forth  like  the  sun  in  the  kingdom 
of  his  Father  ;  for  the  path  of  the  just  is  as  the  rising 
light,  which  shineth  more  and  more  unto  the  perfect 
day.    Permit  me  now  to  apply  the  subject, 

I.  By  asking  every  individual  present,  Is  it  with  you, 
in  a  religious  sense,  even  so  much  as  a  day  of  small 
things?  In  other  words,  have  you  any  religion?  have 
you  faith,  even  as  a  grain  of  mustard  seed  ?  Has  the 
light  of  heaven  dawned  within  you  ?  Unless  you  have 
been  converted,  regenerated,  born  of  God,  this  is  not  the 
case  ;  for  if  any  man  be  in  Christ,  he  is  a  new  creature  ; 
he  has  been  created  anew  in  Christ  Jesus  unto  good 
works  ;  and  if  he  be  not  in  Christ,  he  is  not  a  Christian, 
he  has  not  a  particle  of  faith,  he  is  yet  in  his  sins.  If  any 
ask,  how  may  I  ascertain  whether  I  have  become  a  sub- 
ject of  this  new  creation  ?  1  answer,  every  one  who  is 
a  subject  of  it  can  say,  Whereas  I  was  once  blind,  I  now  „ 
see.  Every  subject  of  it  loves  and  finds  his  happiness 
in  those  religious  employments  and  pursuits,  which  he 
once  hated  or  neglected  ;  and  has  in  a  great  measure 
lost  his  relish  for  those  worldly,  sinful  pleasures  in  which 
he  once  delighted.  Every  Christian,  though  but  a  babe 
in  grace,  hungers  and  thirsts  after  righteousness,  and  de- 
sires the  sincere  milk  of  the  word,  that  he  may  grow 
thereby.  If  this  is  the  case  with  any  of  you,  beware 
how  you  deny  what  God  has  done  for  you  ;  beware  how 
you  despise  the  day  of  small  things ;  beware  how  you 
ungratefully  neglect  to  thank  God  for  the  inestimable 
blessings  which  he  has  bestowed  upon  you.    I  call  them 


NOT  TO  BE  DESPISED. 


223 


inestimable  ;  for  they  strictly  and  literally  are  so.  No 
man,  no  angel  can  estimate  their  worth,  or  the  greatness 
of  your  obligation  to  him  who  bestowed  them.  O  Chris- 
tian, Christian,  did  you  but  know  what  God  has  done 
for  you  ;  could  you  see  the  end  of  the  path  into  which 
he  has  guided  you ;  could  you  behold  the  meridian 
brightness  of  that  day  which  has  dawned  within  yoa  ; 
how  would  you  rejoice,  and  exult,  and  call  upon  your 
soul  and  all  that  is  within  you,  to  bless  and  extol  your 
benefactor !  How  would  you  watch  over  and  cultivate 
and  labor  to  increase  the  seeds  of  grace  which  he  has 
sown  within  you  ?  And  how  would  this  church  exert 
itself,  how  would  it  bless  God  for  every  instance  of  con- 
version, for  every  token  of  his  presence,  did  it  duly' es- 
timate the  day  of  small  things  !  Seek  and  pray  then, 
for  this  attainment;  and  if  you  would  obtain  greater 
blessings  from  heaven,  send  up  more  numerous  and  fer- 
vent thanksgivings  for  the  blessings  which  it  has  already 
bestowed  on  us. 

One  caution,  and  I  have  done.  There  is  an  opposite 
error,  or  mistake,  into  which  many  professors  fall.  In- 
stead of  despising  the  day  of  small  things,  they  trust  too 
much  to  it,  and  are  satisfied  with  it.  They  conclude 
too  hastily,  that  the  work  of  grace  is  begun  in  their  hearts 
and  flatter  themselves  that  it  will  advance  to  perfection, 
without  any  additional  exertion  on  tlieir  part.  Nay 
more,  they  perhaps  fancy  that  their  attainments  are  great, 
and  indulge  in  self-complacency  and  pride.  This  mis- 
take is  far  more  dangerous  than  the  former.  Better  de- 
spise the  day  of  small  things,  than  be  proud  of  it,  or  rest 
satisfied,  or  make  it  an  excuse  for  sloth  and  presumption. 
That  you  may  be  guarded  against  this  error,  remember 
that  the  day  of  small  things  is  a  day  of  increase  ;  that 
every  one  who  has  any  grace,  desires  and  labors  to  ob- 
tain more  grace. 

'(  » 


SERMON  XVI. 

God's  special  Presence  distinguishes  His  own  People, 


EXODUS  XXXIII.  15,  16. 

IF  THY  PRESENCE  GO  NOT  WITH  ME,  CARRY  US  NOT  UP  HENCE.  FOR 
WHEREIN  SHALL  IT  BE  KNOWN  HERE,  THAT  I  AND  THY  PEOPLE 
HAVE  FOUND  GRACE  IN  THY  SIGHT  ?  IS  IT  NOT  IJf  THAT  THOU 
GOEST  WITH  US  ?  SO  SHALL  WE  BE  SEPARATED,  I  AND  THY  PEO- 
PLE, FROM  ALL  THE  PEOPLE  THAT  ARE  UPON  THE  FACE  OF  THE 
EARTH. 

You  doubtless  recollect,  my  hearers,  that  the  Israel- 
ites, while  encamped  in  the  wilderness,  at  the  foot  of 
Mount  Sinai,  made,  and  worshipped,  a  golden  calf. 
This  sin  would  have  been  punished  by  their  immediate 
and  total  destruction,  had  not  the  earnest  intercession  of 
Moses  prevailed  to  obtain  a  pardon.  But  though,  at  his 
request,  God  forebore  to  destroy  the  offenders,  he  saw 
it  necessary  to  manifest  his  displeasure,  by  withdrawing 
from  them  his  sensible  and  gracious  presence,  and  by 
commanding  the  tabernacle,  which  was  its  symbol,  to  be 
removed  and  pitched  without  the  camp.  At  the  same 
time,  he  intimated,  that  he  should  no  longer  continue  to 
go  with  them,  as  he  had  done  ;  but  should  commit  them 
to  the  guidance  and  protection  of  an  angel.  This  inti- 
mation was  not.  however,  expressed  in  such  a  manner, 
as  to  forbid  all  hope  that  it  might  be  reversed  ;  and  there- 
fore Moses  felt  encouraged  to  plead,  that  God  would 
graciously  condescend  to  accompany  them  as  he  had 
done.  If  thy  presence,  said  he,  go  not  with  us,  carry  us 
not  up  hence.    For  wherein  shall  it  be  known  here,  that 


god's  special  presence,  ha.  225 

t 

I  and  thy  people  have  found  grace  in  thy  sight  ?  Is  it 
not  in  that  thou  goest  with  us  ?  So  shall  we  be  separa- 
ted from  all  people  that  are  upon  the  face  of  the  earth. 
That  we  may  perceive  the  pertinency  and  force  of  this 
plea,  we  must  recollect,  that  God  had  expressed  a  de- 
termination to  make  the  Israelites  a  peculiar  people  unto 
himself,  and,. as  such,  to  separate  them  and  keep  them 
separate  from  all  other  nations.  Now  this,  Moses  pleads, 
could  not  be  effected,  unless  they  continued  to  be  favor- 
ed with  the  manifested  and  gracious  presence  of  their 
God.  So  long  as  they  were  favored  with  this  blessing, 
it  would  separate  them  effectually  from  all  x>ther  people  ; 
but  should  it  be  withdrawn,  there  would  be  nothing  left- 
to  marknhem  out  as  the  peculiar  people  of  God  ;  they 
would  soon  become  like  the  other  nations  of  the  earth, 
and  cease  to  be  separated  from  them. 

My  hearers,  the  truth  taught  in  this  passage  is  one,  , 
in  which  we  are  all  deeply  interested,  and  with  which  it 
is  highly  important  that  we  should  all  be  acquainted. 
The  Scriptures  inform  us,  that  the  design,  with  which 
Christ  gave  himself  for  us,  was,  to  purify  unto  himself  a 
peculiar  people  ;  a  people  who  should  be  different,  and 
separate  from,  all  other  men.  They  teach  us,  that  he 
requires  all,  who  would  be  his  disciples,  to  come  out  from 
among  unbelievers,  and  be  separate,  and  that  all  who 
are  his  real  disciples  comply  with  this  requisition.  They 
inform  us,  that  his  disciples  are  not  of  the  world,  even 
as  he  is  not  of  the  world  ;  and  that,  if  any  man  be  in 
Christ,  in  other  words,  if  he  be  a  real  Christian,  he  is  a 
new  creature.  He  has  new  dispositions,  new  views, 
new  feelings,  new  desires,  and  new  objects  of  pursuit  ; 
in  one  word,  a  new  character ; — a  character  essentially 
different  from  that  which  he  originally  possessed,  and 
from  that  of  all  other  men.  Thus  a  broad  and  well  de- 
fined line  of  distinction  is  drawn  between  the  true  disci- 
ples of  Christ,  and  the  rest  of  mankind,  analogous  to  that 
line  which  separated  the  Israelites  from  the  heathen  na- 
tions around  them.  Christ  has  redeemed  them  from 
their  spiritual  enemies,  as  God  delivered  Israel  from 


226 


god's  special  presence 


Egyptian  bondage,  and  he  is  leading  them  through  this 
world  to  heaven,  as  God  led  the  Israelites  through  the 
wilderness  to  the  promised  land,  which  was  a  type  of  the 
rest  that  remains  for  his  people.  And  as  he  gave  a 
promise  to  his  ancient  people,  that  his  presence  should 
go  with  them,  so  he  has  given  his  church  many  promises, 
that  his  manifested  and  gracious  presence  shall  attend 
all  the  real  disciples  of  Christ  during  their  pilgrimage 
through  this  world.  One  of  these  promises,  out  of  many 
which  might  be  quoted,  it  may  be  proper  to  notice  more 
particularly.  He  that  hath  my  commandments  and 
keepeth  them,  says  our  Saviour,  he  it  is  that  loveth  me  ; 
and  he  that  loveth  me  shall  be  loved  of  my  Father,  and 
I  will  love  him,  and  will  manifest  myself  to  him.  Ju- 
das saith  unto  him,  not  Iscariot,  Lord,  how  is  it  that 
thou  wilt  manifest  thyself  unto  us,  and  not  unto  the 
world  ?  Jesus  answered,  If  a  man  love  me,  he  will 
keep  my  words,  and  my  Father  will  love  him,  and  we 
will  come  unto  him,  and  make  our  abode  with  him. 
Hence  it  appears,  that  the  Father  and  the  Son  come  to 
every  man  who  loves  Christ  and  keeps  his  words  ;  that 
is,  to  every  real  Christian,  and  dwell  with  him,  and  man- 
ifest themselves  to  him,  as  they  do  not  to  the  world. 
Now  the  great  truth  to  which  we  wish  to  lead  your  at- 
tention is  this ;  nothing  but  this  promised  presence  of 
God  with  his  people,  can  effectually  separate  them 
from  other  men ;  or,  in  other  words,  nothing  else  can 
preserve  that  broad  line  of  distinction  which  separates 
real  Christians  from  the  unbelieving  world.  With  a 
view  to  illustrate  and  establish  this  truth  I  shall  attempt 
to  show, 

I.  That  the  promised  presence  of  God  with  his  peo- 
ple will,  so  long  as  they  are  favored  with  it,  produce  a 
wide  difference  and  separation  between  them  and  all 
other  men,  and 

II.  That  in  proportion  as  his  presence  is  withdrawn 
from  them,  this  difference  and  separation  will  diminish. 

I.  The  promised  presence  of  God  with  his  people 
will,  so  long  as  they  are  favored  with  it,  produce  a  wide 


DISTINGUISHES  HIS  OWN  PEOPLE.  227 


difference  and  separation  between  them,  and  all  other 
men. 

The  remarks  which  I  shall  first  make  to  prove  the 
truth  of  this  assertion  may  perhaps  appear  to  some  im- 
proper, and  out  of  place;  for  they  will  relate,  not  so 
much  to  the  peculiar  presence  of  God  with  his  people, 
as  to  the  effects  which  a  real  belief  of  his  universal  pre- 
sence must  produce  upon  the  mind  of  every  one  who 
entertains  such  a  belief.  That  we  may  clearly  perceive 
what  these  effects  would  be,  let  us  take  two  persons  as 
nearly  alike  in  all  respects,  as  is  possible,  who,  in  con- 
sequence of  the  similarity  which  exists  between  them, 
have  become  intimate  and  almost  inseparable.  Let  us 
suppose  that  they  both  entertain  that  general,  specula- 
tive, inoperative  belief  of  the  existence  and  universal 
presence  of  God,  which  is  entertained  probably  by  all 
who  live  in  Christian  lands.  Now  let  us  farther  sup- 
pose, that  to  the  mind  of  one  of  these  persons,  the  con- 
stant presence  of  God,  begins  to  appear  like  a  reality. 
Suppose  that  he  begins  to  believe  it  with  that,  kind  of 
faith  which  the  Scriptures  describe, — a  faith  which  is 
the  evidence  of  things  not  seen,  and  which  causes  its 
possessors  to  feel  and  act  as  if  they  saw  him  who  is  invis- 
ible. It  is  evident  that  a  great  change  would  immedi- 
ately take  place  in  this  person's  views  and  feelings.  As 
soon  as  the  existence  and  constant  presence  of  such  a 
being  as  Jehovah  began  to  appear  like  realities,  he  could 
not  fail  to  regard  them  as  the  most  interesting  and  impor- 
tant of  all  realities.  The  objects  which  had  previously 
engrossed  his  attention  would  sink  into  insignificance, 
when  compared  with  the  great  and  glorious  object  thus 
presented  to  his  mind.  The  beings  whose  enmity  he 
had  feared,  and  whose  friendship  he  had  courted,  would 
seem  unworthy  of  regard  compared  with  the  infinite  Being 
of  beings,  to  whom  they  are  indebted  for  their  existence. 
In  a  word,  all  created  objects  would  lose  their  value 
when  the  great  Creator  appeared,  as  stars  disappear 
when  the  sun  arises ;  and  the  mind  would  turn  from 
them  to  contemplate  him,  as  a  child  turns  from  its  toys 


228 


god's  special  presence 


and  amusements,  when  some  more  interesting  object  is 
presented  to  its  view.  This  contemplation  o  f  God,  as 
an  ever  present  reality,  would  excite  new  reflections, 
feelings,  and  inquiries.  Of  these  inquiries  one  of  the 
first  would  be  this,  What  have  I  to  hope,  or  to  fear, 
from  this  omnipotent,  omnipresent  Being,  whose  all- 
seeing  eye  constantly  watches  my  conduct,  and  reads 
my  heart  ?  Does  he  regard  me  with  approbation  or 
with  displeasure  ?  The  answers  which  the  Scriptures 
give  to  these  inquiries  would  soon  convince  him  that 
God  regards  his  character  and  conduct  with  decided 
disapprobation,  and  displeasure.  Then  the  man's  in- 
quiry would  be,  How  shall  I  avert  the  displeasure  and 
secure  the  favor  of  this  Almighty  Being,  who  is  ever  with 
me,  and  on  whom  my  happiness  depends? 

Now,  let  us  farther  suppose  that,  while  the  mind  of 
one  of  these  persons  was  occupied  and  engrossed  by 
these  new  reflections,  feelings,  and  inquiries,  the  other 
should  remain  as  he  was,  without  God  in  the  world, 
without  any  realizing  apprehension  of  his  existence  and 
presence.  Would  these  two  persons  continue  to  be,  as 
they  had  been,  intimate  and  inseparable  ?  Evidently 
not.  Their  views  and  feelings  would  no  longer  corres- 
pond. One  would  be  thinking  of  the  Creator,  the  other 
of  creatures  ;  one  of  this  world,  the  other  of  the  next ; 
one  of  acquiring  temporal  objects,  the  other  of  averting 
the  displeasure  and  securing  the  favor  of  God.  And,  as 
out  of  the  abundance  of  the  heart  the  mouth  will  speak, 
each  of  them  would  wish  to  converse  respecting  the  ob- 
jects which  occupied  his  mind.  The  man  who  enter- 
tained new  views  of  God's  constant  presence,  regarding 
these  views  as  highly  important,  would  naturally  feel  a 
strong  ^desire  to  impart  them  to  his  friend.  His  friend, 
on  the  other  hand,  would  regard  these  views  as  unne- 
cessary, perhaps  as  the  effect  of  weakness,  and  wish 
to  divert  his  attention  from  them.  Thus,  with  respect 
to  each  other,  they  would  be  placed  as  it  were  in  two 
different  worlds.  The  society  of  each  would  gradually 
become  less  pleasing  to  the  other  ;  each  would  seek 


DISTINGUISHES  HIS  OWN  PEOPLE.  229 


society  more  agreeable  to  his  taste ;  and,  though  they 
might  still  regard  each  other  with  esteem  and  even  with 
affection,  a  separation  would  be  effected  between  them. 
It  is  evident,  then,  unless  1  am  greatly  deceived,  that  a 
realizing  apprehension  of  the  existence  and  constant 
presence  of  God,  must  produce  a  wide  difference,  and 
ultimately  a  separation,  not  always  local  indeed,  but 
moral,  between  those  who  entertain  such  an  apprehen- 
sion, and  those  who  do  not. 

But  it  may  be  easily  made  to  appear  still  more  evi- 
dent, that  such  a  difference  and  separation  must  be  ef- 
fected, when  the  Father  and  the  Son  come,  agreeably 
to  our  Saviour's  promise,  to  reside  in  a  man's  heart,  and 
favor  him  with  the  manifestations  of  their  gracious  pre- 
sence. The  occurrence  of  such  an  event,  the  entrance 
of  such  guests,  into  the  heart  must,  it  is  obvious,  be  at- 
tended or  followed  by  a  great  change  in  a  man's  views, 
feelings,  and  character.  He  then  becomes,  to  use  the 
expressive  language  of  Scripture,  a  temple  of  the  living 
God.  Of  those  who  are  thus  favored  God  himself  says,  I 
will  dwell  in  them  and  walk  with  them,  and  they  shall  be 
my  people  and  I  will  be  their  God.  Now  let  but  a  man 
of  taste  come  to  occupy  a  house  and  garden,  which  had 
been  long  forsaken  and  neglected,  and  an  alteration  for 
the  better  will  soon  be  perceived  in  them.  Much  more 
may  we  expect  that  a  similar  alteration  will  be  effected 
in  the  soul,  where  the  wonder-working  God  comes  to 
reside  in  it,  attended  by  all  his  enlightening  and  purify- 
ing and  transforming  energies.  He  is  the  Father  of 
lights,  the  Sun  of  righteousness,  and  wherever  he  comes 
to  dwell,  he  brings  with  him,  and  diffuses  around  him, 
a  portion  of  his  own  celestial  radiance.  He  causes  the 
soul  which  he  inhabits  to  see  the  light  of  the  knowledge 
of  his  own  glory  in  the  face  of  Jesus  Christ.  The  view, 
which  is  thus  given  to  the  soul,  of  God's  ineffable  glory 
and  beauty,  enables  it  to  perceive  the  justice  of  his 
claims  to  the  supreme  love  and  undivided  homage  of 
all  his  intelligent  creatures,  and  the  infinite  criminality  of 
disregarding  these  claims.  To  withhold  love,  to  diso- 
20 


god's  special  presence 


bey,  to  sin  against,  such  a  Being,  now  appears  an  ex- 
ceedingly great  evil.  Thus,  in  the  light  of  God's  holi- 
ness and  glory,  the  blackness  and  unspeakable  maligni-  v 
ty  of  sin  are  clearly  seen,  and  the  soul  begins  to  perceive 
<hat  it  well  deserves  the  terrible  punishment  which  is 
denounced  upon  sinners  in  the  word  of  God.  At  the 
same  time,  this  divine  light  shines  upon  the  man's  past 
life,  and  enables  him  to  see  that  it  has  been  one  contin- 
ued course  of  sin  and  rebellion  against  God  ;  it  shines 
upon  all  the  external,  moral  and  religious  duties,  which 
he  has  ever  attempted  to  perform,  and  shews  him  their 
insincerity,  pollution,  and  worthlessness ;  it  shines  into 
all  the  hidden  recesses  of  his  hem,  and  discloses  to  him 
ten  thousand  lurking  abominations,  the  existence  of 
which  he  had  never  even  suspected.  In  this  respect 
the  effects,  produced  by  the  entrance  of  God  into  the 
soul,  resemble  those  which  would  result  from  admitting 
the  light  of  the  sun  into  a  dark  room,  filled  with  every 
kind  of  filth  and  pollution.  In  fine,  to  every  man  in  , 
whom  God  takes  up  his  residence  he  imparts,  in  a 
greater  or  less  degree,  his  own  views. 

Now  God's  views  of  almost  every  object  differ  wide- 
ly, as  I  need  not  inform  you,  from  those  of  men.  He 
himself  says,  My  thoughts  are  not  your  thoughts  ;  you 
judge  according  to  the  outward  appearance,  but  my 
judgment  is  according  to  truth  ;  the  things  which  are 
highly  esteemed  among  men  are,  in  my  sight,  an  abom- 
ination. Now  if  the  views  of  God  differ  thus  widely 
from  those  of  men,  and  if  he  imparts  his  own  views  to 
every  person  whom  he  favors  with  his  gracious  presence, 
then  it  follows  that  the  new  views,  with  which  such  a 
person  is  favored  must  differ  widely  from  those  of  all 
other  men.  And  so  far  as  he  is  influenced  by  these 
views,  he  will  pursue  a  path  different  from  that  in  which 
other  men  walk,  and  will  of  course  be  separated  from 
them,  for  how  can  two  walk  together  unless  they  be 
.agreed  ?  He  will  look  at  things  unseen  and  eternal  ; 
bat  they  look  at  things  seen  and  temporal.  He  will  wish 
and  aim  to  walk  with  God  ;  but  ^Ae^  live  without  God 


DISTINGUISHES  HIS  OWN  PEOPLE.  231 


in  the  world.  He  will  seek  and  follow  the  narrow  way 
to  life  ;  but  they  are  following  the  broad  road  to  destruc- 
tion ;  and  as  these  paths  lead  in  opposite  directions, 
those  who  follow  one,  must  be  separated  from  those 
who  walk  in  the  other. 

Nor  is  this  all.  When  God  comes  to  dwell  in  the 
soul,  he  imparts  to  it  a  portion,  not  only  of  his  own  views, 
but  of  his  own  feelings.  He  not  only  illuminates  the 
understanding  with  his  own  light,  but,  as  an  apostle  ex- 
presses it,  sheds  abroad  his  love  in  the  heart.  Now. 
consider  a  moment,  my  hearers,  what  a  change  must  be 
produced  in  a  selfish,  sinful,  polluted  heart,  a  heart 
which  inspiration  declares  to  be  full  of  evil  and  mad- 
ness, deceitful  above  all  things  and  desperately  wicked, 
when  that  God,  who  is  an  infinitely  pure,  holy,  and 
benevolent  Spirit,  and  who  hates  sin  with  intense  ab- 
horrence, comes  to  reside  in  it.  Can  you  suppose  that 
he  will  dwell  there  in  peace  with  those  idols  which  he 
forbids  us  to  worship,  those  sins  which  he  abhors, — with 
his  worst  enemies  f  As  well  may  we  suppose  that  he 
would  have  allowed  all  the  idols  of  the  heathen  to  be  set 
up  and  worshipped  in  his  temple  at  Jerusalem.  As 
well  may  we  suppose  that  our  Saviour  did  not  scourge 
out  the  buyers  and  sellers  from  the  same  temple  when 
he  entered  it.  As  well  may  we  suppose  that  Dagon 
did  not  fall  before  the  ark  of  God,  the  symbol  of  Jeho- 
vah's presence,  when  it  was  brought  into  his  temple. 
The  Lord,  we  are  assured,  is  a  jealous  God.  He  will 
not  endure  a  rival.  Behold,  says  a  prophet,  the  Lord 
shall  come  into  Egypt,  and  the  idols  of  Egypt  shall  be 
moved  at  his  presence.  Much  more  may  we  suppose 
that,  when  he  comes  into  the  human  heart,  and  makes 
it  his  temple,  its  former  idols,  its  beloved  sins,  its  domi- 
neering lusts,  will  be  moved  and  overthrown,  and  a  great 
moral  purification  be  effected.  Agreeably,  an  apostle 
informs  us  that,  when  God  visited  the  Gentiles  to  take 
out  from  among  them  a  people  to  his  name,  he  purified 
the  hearts  of  those  who  were  thus  taken  ;  and,  in  pas- 
sages too  numerous  to  mention,  he  is  represented  as 


232  god's  special  presence 


sanctifying  all  in  whom  he  dwells,  as  teaching  and  dis- 
posing them  to  hate,  repent  of,  and  mortify  their  sinful 
propensities,  to  love  and  cultivate  holiness,  to  be  spiri- 
tually and  heavenly  minded,  to  be  no  longer  conformed 
to  this  world,  but  to  feel  and  live  as  pilgrims  and  stran- 
gers on  earth,  and  to  produce  the  fruits  of  the  Spirit, 
which  are  love,  joy,  peace,  long-suffering,  goodness, 
meekness,  temperance,  and  faith.    In  fine,  he  renews 
the  soul  after  his  own  image  in  knowledge  and  true  ho- 
liness ;  and  thus,  to  use  the  language  of  inspiration, 
makes  the  mm  a  new  creature,  a  partaker  of  the  divine 
nature.    And  must  not  this  mighty  change,  produce  a 
great  difference,  a  wide  moral  separation  between  those* 
who  are  the  subjects  of  it|  and  all  other  men?  Most 
evidently  it  must.    And  this  difference  and  separation 
will  be  in  exact  proportion  to  the  degree  in  which  God 
manifests  his  gracious  presence  to  the  soul,  and  exerts 
upon  it  his  sanctifying  energies.    Witness,  for  instance, 
the  effects  which  a  clear  manifestation  of  God's  presence 
produced  upon  Job.'  I  have  heard  of  thee  by  the  hearing 
of  the  ear,  but  now  mine  eye  seeth  thee  ;  wherefore  I 
abhor  myself  and  repent  in  dust  and  ashes. 
I  now  proceed  to  shew,  as  was  proposed, 
II.    That,  in  proportion  as  God  withdraws  the  mani- 
festations of  his  presence  from  his  people,  this  difference 
and  separation  between  them  and  other  men  will  dimin- 
ish.   Before  exhibiting  proofs  of  this  truth,  it  may  be 
proper  to  remark,  that  God  never  entirely  withdraws  his 
gracious  presence  from  those  who  have  once  been  fa- 
vored with  it.    The  promises  which  he  has  given  them, 
the  covenant  which  he  has  made  with  them,  forbid  this. 
His  language  to  each  of  them  is,  I  will  never  leave  thee, 
nor  forsake  thee.    And  respecting  all  his  people  he  says, 
I  will  make  with  them  an  everlasting  covenant,  that  I 
will  never  turn  away  from  them.    But  though  these  and 
many  other  similar  promises  render  it  certain  that  God's 
presence  shall  never  be  wholly  withdrawn  from  his  peo- 
ple ;  yet  it  is  equally  certain  that  he  often  suspends  its 
sensible  manifestations  and  effects,  and,  in  the  language 


DISTINGUISHES  HIS  OWN  PEOPLE, 


233 


of  Scripture,  hides  himself  from  them.  This  is  evident 
from  the  complaints  of  his  people,  recorded  in  the  Scrip- 
tures. Job,  David,  and  many  others,  complain  that  God 
had  forsaken  them,  and  hid  himself  from  them ;  that  he 
Stood  afar  off,  and  that  they  could  not  find  him  ;  and 
they  earnestly  beseech  him  to  return,  to  lift  upon  them 
the  light  of  his  countenance,  and  make  them  glad 
with  liis  presence.  This  language  all  real  Christians 
perfectly  understand  ;  but  it  cannot  easily  be  rendered 
intelligible  to  those  who  have  never  enjoyed  God's  pres- 
ence, and  who  cannot  therefore  conceive  how  it  is  mani- 
fested. The  following  supposition  may,  perhaps,  enable 
them  to  form  some  conception  of  its  meaning. 

Let  us  suppose,  for  a  moment,  that  the  sun  was  an  in- 
.  telligent  being,  and  that  by  an  act  of  his  will  he  could 
withhold  his  enlightening  and  warming  beams^  from  one 
man,  while  he  continued  to  shine  upon  others.  It  is  ev- 
ident that  the  man  who  was  thus  deprived  of  light  and 
warmth,  would  soon  complain  of  darkness  and  cold,  and 
that  he  would  earnestly  desire  to  be  again  favored  with 
those  enlivening,  cheering  beams,  which  were  so  neces- 
sary to  his  happiness.  And  when  the  sun  began  once 
more  to  shine  upon  such  a  man,  it  might  be  said,  figu- 
ratively speaking,  to  lift  upon  him  the  light  of  its  coun- 
tenance. Now  God  is  the  Sun  of  the  intellectual  and 
moral  world.  In  other  words,  he  is  the  Bun  of  the  soul. 
And  he  can  shine  into  it,  and  render  it  luminous  and  hap- 
py. When  he  favors  it  with  his  presence  and  exerts 
upon  it  his  influence,  it  is  enlivened,  and  enlightened, 
and  made  to  glow  with  love,  and  hope,  and  joy,  and 
gratitude.  But  when  he  withdraws  and  suspends  his  in- 
fluences, spiritual  darkness  and  coldness  are  the  conse- 
quence. Then  it  is  night,  it  is  winter  with  the  soul.  In 
proportion  as  he  thus  withdraws  from  his  people,  they 
cease  to  view  him  as  a  present  reality.  And  in  propor- 
tion as  they  cease  to  regard  him  as  a  present  reality, 
they  cease  to  have  those  views,  and  to  exercise  those 
affections,  which  constitute  the  grand  essential  difference 
between  them  and  other  men.  Nor  is  this  all  As  holy 
20* 


234  god's  special  presence 

affections  decline,  sinful  affections  revive.  As  the  Cre- 
ator sinks  out  of  sight,  creatures  begin  again  to  be  regard- 
ed with  an  idolatrous  attachment,  just  as  the  stars  which 
are  invisible,  during  the  day,  appear  and  sparkle  when 
the  sun  is  set.  Hence  the  Christian  becomes  more  and 
more  worldly-minded,  more  and  more  conformed  to  the 
world,  and,  of  course,  the  difference  and  separation, 
which  existed  between  him  and  other  men  while  he  was 
favored  with  the  presence  of  God,  is  less  and  less  appa- 
rent, until  at  length  he  becomes,  like  Sampson  after  the 
Spirit  of  God  had  withdrawn  from  him,  weak  as  any 
other  man  ;  nor  will  any  thing  raise  him  from  this  wretch- 
ed state  until  be  is  again  favored  with  the  presence  of 
God.  .  It  is  then  the  peculiar  presence  of  God  with  his 
people,  and  nothing  else,  which  produces  and  maintains 
a  difference  and  separation  between  them  and  other 
men.  This  truth  St.  Paul  felt  when  he  said,  I  can  do 
all  things  through  Christ  strengthening  me.  I  labored 
more  abundantly  than  they  all :  yet  not  I,  but  the  grace 
of  God  which  was  with  me.  I  live  ;  yet  not  I,  but 
Christ  liveth  in  me,  and  the  life  which  I  live  in  the  flesh, 
I  live  by  faith  in  the  Son  of  God. 

It  remains  only  to  make  a  suitable  improvement  of 
the  subject.  With  this  view,  permit  me,  in  the  first 
place,  to  say  to  each  individual  in  this  assembly,  Do  you 
know  experimentally  the  difference  between  the  presence 
and  the  absence  of  God  ?  If  not,  it  is  most  certain  that 
you  never  enjoyed  his  peculiar  presence  ;  and,  of  course 
that  you  are  not  one  of  his  people  ;  for  to  be  insensible 
of  the  difference  between  day  and  night,  is  not  a  more 
certaju  proof  of  physical  or  natural  blindness,  than  it  is 
of  spiritual  blindness,  to  be  ignorant  of  the  difference 
between  the  presence  and  the  absence  of  God,  the  Sun 
of  righteousness.  If  any  one  replies,  I  am  not  ignorant 
of  this  difference,  for  I  trust  that  I  have  enjoyed  the  pe- 
culiar presence  of  God,  I  trust  that  the  Father  and  the 
Son  have  taken  up  their  residence  in  my  heart  ; — let  me 
ask  that  person  farther,  Has  such  a  change  been  effect- 
ed in  your  views  and  feelings  as  the  entrance  of  such 


DISTINGUISHES  HIS  OWN  PEOPLE.  235 


guests  into  your  heart,  might  be  expected  to  produce  ? 
Have  you  been  led  to  see  that  the  description,  which  in- 
spiration gives  of  the  human  heart,  is  literally  just  and 
true  with  respect  to  your  own  heart  ?  and  have  you, 
in  consequence,  been  led,  as  was  Job,  to  abhor  yourself, 
and  repent  in  dust  and  ashes?  If  not,  be  assured  that 
your  heart  has  never  been  God's  residence. 

Again  ;  Have  your  views  of  God  and  of  Jesus  Christ 
been  transforming  ?  An  apostle,  speaking  of  himself  and 
other  Christians,  says,  We  all,  beholding  as  in  a  glass 
the  glory  of  the  Lord,  are  changed  into  the  same  image, 
from  glory  to  glory.  Are  you  thus  transformed  more 
and  more  into  the  image  of  the  Lord  ?  If  not,  he  has 
never  dwelt  in  your  heart ;  for  if  any  man  have  not  the 
Spirit  of  Christ ;  if  any  man  does  not  resemble  Christ, 
he  is' none  of  his. 

Once  more  ;  has  what  you  call  the  presence  of  God 
led  you  to  walk  with  God  ?  Has  it  thus  produced  a 
moral  difference  and  separation  between  you  and  the 
unbelieving  world  f  Has  it  constrained  you  to  obey  the 
call  which  says,  Come  ye  out  from  among  them  and  be 
ye  separate  and  touch  not  the  unclean  thing,  and  I  will 
receive  you,  and  will  be  a  Fatherto  you,  and  ye  shall 
be  my  sons  and  daughters  I  If  it  has  not,  in  some  degree 
at  least,  produced  these  effects,  be  assured  that  what  you 
call  the  presence  of  God  is  nothing  but  a  delusion.  It 
is  an  insult  to  the  Father  of  lights,  the  High  and  Holy 
One,  to  pretend  that  you  are  his  temple,  that  he  dwells 
within  you,  unless  you  prove  the  justice  of  your  preten- 
sions by  a  corresponding  temper  and  life.  What !  shall 
a  man  pretend  to  be  the  temple  of  the  living  God,  the 
thrice  Holy  One  of  Israel,  while  his  conduct  evidently 
proves  that  his  heart  is  rilled  with  idols,  and  resembles  a 
^eage  of  unclean  and  hateful  birds  ? 

2.  Let  me  improve  this  subject,  by  inquiring  whether 
this  church  now  enjoys  the  peculiar  presence  of  God,  as 
it  once  appeared  to  do.  And  yet  why  should  I  ask  ? 
It  is,  alas,  but  too  evident  that  whatever  exceptions  we 
may  make  in  favor  of  some  individuals,  this  church  con^ 


236 


god's  special  presence 


sidered  as  a  body,  does  not  enjoy  the  peculiar  presence 
of  God,  as  it  once  apparently  did.    He  seems  to  have 
withdrawn  from  us,  at  least  for  a  time  ;  and,  if  I  may  so 
express  it,  to  have  committed  us,  as  he  threatened  to  do 
his  ancient  people,to  the  care  of  an  angel.  Do  any  ask  for 
proofs  of  this  assertion  ?    Where,  I  ask  in  reply,  is  the 
broad  line  of  distinction  which  once  separated  between 
this  church  and  an  unbelieving  world  ?    Is  it  not  become 
like  a  mere  mathematical  line  ?    Nay,  is  it  not,  in  many 
parts  of  it,  become  imperceptible  ?    Should  any  of  you 
come  as  strangers  into  this  town,  could  you  determine, 
simply  by  observing  men's  daily  conduct,  who  do,  and 
who  do  not  profess  to  belong  to  the  church  of  Christ  ? 
In  some,  in  a  very  considerable  number  of  cases,  you 
might  doubtless  see  a  real  difference  between  professors 
and  other  men  ;  but  in  too  many  cases,  no  such  differ- 
ence could  be  discovered.    And  yet  if  God's  people  are 
a  peculiar  people,  a  people  chosen  out  of  the  world,  a 
people  in  whom  he  dwells,  a  wide  difference  ought  ever 
to  be  seen  between  them  and  others.    An  apostle,  wri- 
ting to  Christians,  says,  Ye  are  our  epistle,  known  and 
read  of  all  men.    God  himself  says  of  his  people,  They 
shall  be  known  among  the  nations  ;  all  that  see  them 
shall  acknowledge  them,  that  they  are  the  seed  which  the 
Lord  hath  blessed.    In  fine,  the  children  of  God  ought 
to  carry,  and  while  they  enjoy  his  presence,  they  will 
carry,  their  Father's  name  written  as  it  were  in  their 
foreheads,  where  all  may  read  it.    Now  if  this  is  not  the 
case  with  us,  if  we  are  become  like  the  world  around  us, 
it  is  certain  that  God  has,  in  a  degree  at  least,  if  not 
entirely,  withdrawn  his  peculiar  and  gracious  presence 
from  this  church.    And  if  he  has  withdrawn  it,  it  is  on 
account  of  our  sins  ;  for  on  no  other  account  does  he 
ever  withdraw  himself  from  a  church.    His  own  lan- 
guage is,  I  will  go  and  return  to  my  place,  until  they 
acknowledge  their  offence  and  seek  my  face.    And  this 
language,  while  it  states  the  reasons  of  his  absence  in- 
forms us  how  long  it  will  continue,  and  what  we  must 
do  to  procure  his  return.    We  must  acknowledge,  with 


\ 


DISTINGUISHES  HIS  OWN  PEOPLE.  237 

unfeigned  contrition,  the  sins  which  provoked  him  to  for- 
sake us,  and  with  sincerity,  earnestness,  and  perseverance 
seek  his  presence.  As  yet  we  have  not  done  this.  We 
have  not  been  suitably  affected  by  the  loss  of  God's  pres- 
ence. We  have  been  less  affected  by  it  than  were  the 
idolatrous  Israelites  themselves.  We  are  informed  in 
the  context  that,  when  they  heard  of  God's  determina- 
tion to  withdraw  from  them,  and  commit:  them  to  the 
guidance  of  an  angel,  they  mourned,  and  none  of  them 
put  on  their  usual  ornaments.  And  shall  we,  who  call 
ourselves  Christians,  be  less  affected  bv  the  loss  of  God's 
presence,  than  were  these  perverse,  stiff-necked  idola- 
ters ?  Rather  let  us  imitate  Moses,  who  pleaded  im- 
portunately for  this  blessing  and  would  take  no  denial. 
Let  us  all,  as  one  man,  cry  with  him,  Lord  let  thy  pres- 
ence go  with  us  ;  so  shall  it  be  known  that  we  have 
found  favor  in  thy  sight  ;  so  shall  thy  church  be  separa- 
ted as  a  people  from  the  surrounding  world,  and  adorn 
the  doctrine  of  God  her  Saviour  in  all  things.  My  breth- 
ren, unless  we  do  this,unless  we  once  more  obtain  God's 
gracious  presence  in  the  midst  of  us,  our  state  will  be- 
come worse  and  worse  ;  we  shall  become  more  and 
more  conformed  to  a  sinful  world  ;  iniquities,  offences, 
and  divisions  will  abound,  till  God  shall  come  in  anger 
to  scourge  us,  and  perhaps  remove  our  candlestick  out 
of  its  place.  Our  all,  yes  our  all  is  at  'stake.  O,  then, 
be  persuaded  to  know  in  this  your  day  the  things  which 
belong  to  the  peace  of  this  church,  before  they  are  hid- 
den from  your  eyes.  And  let  those  of  its  members  who 
are  still  favored  with  the  presence  of  God,  beware  lest 
they  lose  it.  Let  them  prize  it  above  all  other  bless- 
ings, and  walk  circumspectly  and  humbly  with  their 
God;  remembering  that  he  is  a  jealous  God,  who  will 
not  bear  a  rival ;  and  a  holy  God,  who  will  not  tolerate 
sin  even  in  his  own  people. 

To  conclude,  it  is  possible  there  may  be  some  indi- 
viduals in  this  assembly  who,  in  consequence  of  not 
attending  to  the  subject,  have  never  been  aware  that 
such  a  blessing  as  the  sensible,  gracious  presence  of  God 


238  god's  special  presence,  &c. 

may  be  enjoyed  on  earth.  Let  me  beseech  such  per- 
sons, if  any  such  there  are  present,  to  examine  the 
Scriptures  carefully,  with  special  reference  to  this  sub- 
ject. Let  them  consider  impartially  the  promises  which 
have  been  quoted  in  this  discourse,  and  the  many  in- 
spired passages  in  which  God's  people  are  represented 
as  either  rejoicing  in  his  presence,  or  mourning  its  loss. 
Let  them  remember  that  the  High  and  Holy  One,  who 
inhabits  eternity  has  said,  I  dwell  in  the  hearts  of  the 
humble  and  contrite.  Should  they  be  convinced,  after 
a  careful  examination,  that  such  a  blessing  is  attainable, 
that  it  is  enjoyed  by  all  real  Christians,  and  that  no  man 
can  dwell  with  God  hereafter,  unless  God  dwells  in  him 
here,  they  will  surely  need  no  additional  inducement  to 
seek  it ;  for  what  can  be  so  desirable,  so  honorable,  as 
to  enjoy  the  indwelling  presence  of  the  King  of  kings  ; 
as  to  be  the  temples  of  the  living  God  ;  as  to  have  our 
minds  enlightened  by  the  Father  of  lights,  and  our  hearts 
filled  with  holy  love  by  the  God  of  holiness  and  love  ? 


SERMON  XVII. 

Hew  to  prolong  the  gracious  Visits  of  Christ. 


LUKE  IV.  42 

AND  WHEN  IT  WAS  DAY  HE  DEPARTED,  AND  WENT  INTO  A  DESERT 
PLACE  J  AND  THE  PEOPLE  SOUGHT  HIM,  AND  CAME  UNTO  BlMt 
AND  STAYED  HIM,  THAT  HS  SHOULD  NOT  DEPART  FROM  THEM. 

Our  blessed  Saviour,  while  on  earth,  met  with  a  „ 
very  different  reception  in  different  places.  In  one 
place,  we  see  all  the  inhabitants  uniting  in  a  request 
that  he  would  depart  out  of  their  coasts.  In  another* 
they  were  so  much  provoked  by  his  doctrine,  that  they 
thrust  him  out  of  their  city,  and  led  him  to  the  brow  of 
the  hill,  on  which  it  stood,  with  a  design  to  cast  him 
down  headlong.  Here,  on  the  contrary,  we  see  multi- 
tudes seeking  him,  and  using  every  means  in  their  pow- 
er to  prevent  or  retard  his  departure.  The  place  where 
his  presence  was  thus  earnestly  desired,  was  Capernaum,. 
The  inhabitants  of  this  city  heard  him  preach,  and  they 
were  astonished  at  his  doctrine.  They  saw  him  cast 
out  a  devil,  and  were  all  amazed,  and  said  one  to 
another,  What  a  word  is  this  ?  Determined  to  improve 
the  opportunity,  which  his  presence  afforded,  they  press- 
ed upon  him  to  hear  the  word  of  God,  and  brought  to 
him  all  their,  sick  to  be  healed.  Having  spent  the  day 
and  the  evening  in  these  labors  of  love,  our  Saviour 
rose  early  the  next  morning,  and  departed  into  a  desert 
place,  partly  for  the  purpose  of  prayer,  and  partly,  per- 
haps, to  see  whether  they  would  follow  him  and  request 


240 


HOW  TO  PROLONG  THE 


his  longer  stay.  This  temporary  withdrawal  only  ren- 
dered them  the  more  desirous  of  his  presence.  They 
sought  him,  and  came  unto  him,  and  stayed  him,  that 
he  should  not  depart  from  them. 

My  friends,  the  Saviour  is  still,  though  invisibly, 
present  in  our  world.  Wherever  his  ministers  are, 
there  he  is  ;  for  he  has  promised  to  be  with  them  al- 
ways, even  to  the  end  of  the  world.  Wherever  his  peo- 
ple assemble  in  his  name,  there  he  is ;  for  be  has  prom- 
ised to  be  in  the  midst  of  them  on  such  occasions. 
Sometimes,  but  not  always,  he  chooses  to  manifest  his 
presence  by  the  production  of  visible  effects.  When 
this  is  the  case,  a  revival  of  religion  ensues.  The  spiri- 
tually sick  are  healed,  and  the  spiritually  dead  raised  to 
life.  But  it  is  often  the  case  that,  at  such  seasons,  he 
seems  to  withdraw  for  a  time,  to  see  whether  his  pres- 
ence is  desired,  whether  his  absence  will  be  mourned, 
whether  his  people  will  be  excited  to  greater  diligence  in 
seeking  him.  When  this  is  the  case,  we  may  learn,  from 
our  text,  what  duty  requires  of  us.  We  must  seek  him 
diligently,  and,  if  possible,  find  him,  and  constrain  him 
not  to  depart  from  us.  In  discoursing  farther  on  this 
passage,  1  shall  endeavor  to  show, 

I.  What  means  should  be  employed,  by  a  society 
that  is  favored  with  the  gracious  visits  of  Christ,  to  pro- 
long their  continuance,  and  prevent  his  departure  ;  and, 

H.  To  state  some  of  the  reasons,  which  should  in- 
duce us  to  employ  these  means. 

I.  What  means  should  be  employed  to  prolong  the 
gracious  visits  of  Christ  ?  I  answer,  generally,  we  must 
endeavor  to  render  his  continuance  with  us  agreeable 
to  himself;  and  to  avoid  or  banish  from  among  us 
every  thing  which  tends  to  render  it  otherwise.  When 
we  wish  to  induce  an  earthly  friend  to  reside  with  us, 
as  long  as  possible,  we  naturally  endeavor  to  render 
his  residence  with  us  agreeable  ;  for  no  person  will 
voluntarily  continue  long  in  a  disagreeable  place,  or  in 
unpleasant  society.  It  is  the  same  with  respect  to 
Christ.    We  must  make  his  visits  pleasant,  or  they 


GRACIOUS  VISITS  OP  CHRIST. 


241 


will  be  few,  and  of  short  continuance.  Now  nothing  is 
so  pleasant  to  him  as  holiness  ;  nothing  is  so  hateful  to 
him  as  sin.  Sin  then,  must  be  renounced  and  mortifi- 
ed, and  holiness  loved  and  practised,  if  we  would  in- 
duce him  to  stay  long  with  us. 

But  more  particularly  ;  if  we  would  prolong  our  Sa- 
viour's gracious  visits,  either  to  ourselves,  to  our  habi- 
tations, or  to  the  place  in  which  we  reside,  we  must 
show  him  that  we  greatly  desire,  and  highly  value  his 
presence.  No  person  will  consent  to  stay  long  with 
those,  by  whom  his  presence  is  not  desired.  Least  of 
all  will  those  consent  to  this,  who  are  sensible  of  their 
own  worth,  and  who  know  that  there  are  other  places, 
where  they  would  be  more  welcome.  Now  our  blessed 
Saviour  is  perfectly  sensible  of  his  own  worth.  He 
knows  that  his  favor  is  life,  and  his  loving  kindness  bet- 
ter than  life  ;  and  that,  in  comparison  with  himself,  ev- 
ery thing  is  worthless.  He  knows  that,  great  and  pow- 
erful as  he  is,  he  can  confer  no  favor  upon  a  church  or 
upon  individuals  more  valuable  than  his  gracious  pre- 
sence. He,  therefore,  justly  expects  that  we  should 
prize  it  accordingly,  and  consider  every  thing  else  as 
nothing  in  comparison  with  this.  His  language  is,  He 
that  loveth  father  or  mother,  son  or  daughter,  yea,  his 
own  life,  more  than  me,  is  not  worthy  of  me.  If,  there- 
fore, he  perceives  that  we  love  and  desire  any  object 
whatever  more  than  his  presence,  he  will  consider  us 
unworthy  of  it,  and  depart.  Agreeably,  we  find  him 
saying,  respecting  his  ancient  people,  when  they  seem- 
ed to  prefer  other  objects  to  himself,  I  will  go  and  re- 
turn to  my  place,  till  they  acknowledge  the  offence,  and 
seek  my  face.  The  fact  is,  that,  when  we  prefer  any 
object  to  Christ,  we  make  an  idol  of  that  object,  and  set 
up  that  idol  in  his  presence.  And  can  we  expect  that 
he  will  continue  long  with  those  who  prefer  an  idol  be- 
fore him  ?  Would  he,  while  on  earth,  have  gone  into 
an  idolatrous  temple,  and  continued  there,  patiently  wit- 
nessing his  own  disgrace,  and  choosing  such  a  place  as 


21 


242 


TtOW  TO  PROLONG  THE 


his  residence  ?  Certainly  not ;  nor  will  he  now  long 
continue  in  a  heart,  in  a  house,  or  in  a  place,  where  he 
sees  any  idol  preferred  before  him.  The  psalmist  could 
say,  If  I  forget  thee,  O  Jerusalem,  let  my  right  hand 
forget  her  cunning ;  if  I  do  not  remember  thee,  let  my 
tongue  cleave  to  the  roof  of  my  mouth,  if  I  prefer  not 
Jerusalem  above  my  chief  joy.  Similar  must  be  our 
feelings  with  respect  to  Christ,  if  we  would  enjoy  his 
presence.  We  must  prefer  it  above  our  chief  joy  ;  and 
be  able  to  exclaim  with  David,  There  be  many  that 
say,  Who  will  show  us  any  good  ?  Lord,  lift  thou  up 
the  light  of  thy  countenance  upon  me.  Nor  is  it  enough 
to  feel  these  desires.  We  must  express  them  to  him 
in  prayer  ;  or  they  will  be  like  the  fruitless  wishes  of 
the  sluggard,  who  desireth  and  hath  nothing.  Prayer 
is  the  offering  up  of  our  desires  to  God  ;  and  he  will  not 
seem  to  know  our  desires,  much  less  gratify  them,  un- 
less they  are  expressed  and  offered  up  to  him  in  his 
appointed  way.  The  more  he  seems  to  depart  from  us, 
the  more  earnestly  must  we  follow  him  with  our  pray- 
ers and  supplications,  saying,  with  Jacob,  we  will  not 
let  thee  go,  except  thou  bless  us  ;  and,  like  the  persons 
mentioned  in  our  text,  staying  him  that  he  may  not  for- 
sake us^ 

2.  With  prayer  we  must  unite  penitence.  Especial- 
ly must  we  repent  of  those  sins,  which  have  been  the 
probable  cause  of  his  beginning  to  withdraw.  This  is 
indispensably  necessary  ;  for  we  are  told,  that  the  Lord 
is  near  to  them  that  have  a  broken  heart,  and  saveth 
such  as  be  of  a  contrite  spirit.  Without  this,  even 
prayer  will  not  avail,  as  is  evident  from  the  case  of  Josh- 
ua, when  his  army  was  repulsed  before  Ai.  Perplexed, 
grieved,  and  astonished  at  this  unexpected  repulse, 
which  seemed  so  inconsistent  with  what  God's  promi- 
ses taught  him  to  expect,  the  Jewish  captain  rent  his 
clothes,  and,  with  the  elders  of  Israel,  put  dust  upon 
bis  head,  and  lay  prostrate*  before  God  in  earnest  pray- 
er, during  the  whole  day.    But  God  gave  him  to  un- 


GRACIOUS  VISITS  OF  CHRIST. 


243 


derstand,  that  sin  was  the  cause  of  this  disaster; — that 
no  prayers  could  avail  without  repentance  and  reforma- 
tion. And  the  Lord  said  unto  Joshua,  Get  thee  up ; 
wherefore  liest  thou  on  thy  face  ?  Israel  hath  sinned, 
and  hath  transgressed  my  covenant ;  therefore  they 
could  not  stand  before  their  enemies,  because  they 
were  accursed  ;  neither  will  I  be  with  you  any  more, 
except  ye  destroy  the  accursed  from  among  you.  Now 
sin  is  the  accursed  thing,  which  always  provokes  Christ 
to  depart  from  those  who  entertain  it ;  and  no  entrea- 
ties will  prevent  his  departure,  unless  this  accursed  thing 
be  repented  of  and  renounced.  Nay  more,  without  this 
he  will  not  only  withdraw  his  gracious  presence,  but  will 
come  out  against  us  in  anger  ;  for  his  language  to  those 
who  begin  to  decline  from  the  way  of  truth  is,  I  will 
come  and  fight  against  thee  with- the  word  of  my  mouth, 
except  thou  repent. 

3.  If  we  would  prevent  the  Saviour  from  depriving 
us  of  his  gracious  visits,  we  must  receive  them  with 
profound  humility,  and  a  deep  sense  of  our  unworthiness 
of  such  a  favor.  His  visits  are  always  designed  to 
humble  us ;  and  so  long  as  they  produce  this  effect,  he 
will  continue  them ;  for  the  High  and  Holy  One,  who 
inhabits  eternity,  dwells  also  with  him  who  is  of  a  hum- 
ble and  contrite  heart.  But  if  we  begin  to  grow  proud 
of  his  favors  ;  if  we  imagine  that  he  Slesses  us  with  his 
presence,  on  account  of  any  worthiness  or  excellence  of 
our  own ;  if  we  begin  to  look  down  with  contempt  on 
others,  who  are  less  favored,  he  will  quickly  withdraw, 
and  leave  us  to  shame  ;  for  while  he  gives  grace  to  the 
humble,  he  sets  himself  against  the  proud  to  abase  them. 
A  striking  instance  of  this  we  have  in  the  story  of  Hez- 
ekiah.  He  had  enjoyed  many  favors,  had  been  deliv- 
ered from  the  Assyrian  army,  miraculously  raised  from 
sickness,  and  made  instrumental  of  a  great  revival  of  re- 
ligion. But,  we  are  told,  that  Hezekiah  rendered  not 
again  according  to  the  benefit  done  unto  him  \  but  bis 


244 


HOW  TO  PROLONG  THE 


heart  was  lifted  up,  therefore  there  was  wrath  upon  Ju- 
dah  and  Jerusalem. 

4.  If  we  would  prevent  the  Saviour  from  leaving  us, 
we  must  assign  sufficient  reasons  why  he  should  prolong 
his  stay.  He  always  does  what  is  right  and  reason- 
able. No  entreaties  can  induce  him  to  act  in  an  un- 
reasonable manner  ;  for  be  is  not  like  weak-minded  man 
who  can  often  be  persuaded  to  act  contrary  to  his  judg- 
ment. But  if  we  can  assign  any  sufficient  reasons  for 
his  continuance  with  us,  he  will  infallibly  prolong  it, 
while  those  reasons  continue  to  operate.  We  ought 
therefore,  as  Job  expresses  it,  to  fill  our  mouths  with  ar- 
guments, when  we  come  to  plead  that  he  would  not  for- 
sake us.  The  glory  of  his  Father,  the  honor  of  his 
great  name,  the  welfare  of  his  people,  the  prosperity  of 
his  cause,  are  each  of  them  reasons  of  sufficient  weight 
to  influence  his  conduct  ;  and  while  either  of  these  rea- 
sons requires  his  stay,  we  may  be  sure  that  he  will  not 
leave  us» 

5.  If  we  would  prevent  Christ  from  leaving  us,  we 
must  furnish  him  with  employments,  and  with  such  kind 
of  employments  as  are  suited  to  his  character.  Every 
intelligent  being  has  some  ruling  passion,  and  every  such 
being  will  choose  to  reside  where  that  passion  can  be 
most  easily  and  effectually  gratified.  For  instance,  the 
ruling  passion  of  a  miser  is  the  love  of  wealth  ;  and  there- 
fore, he  will  ever  choose  to  reside  where  he  can  most 
easily  acquire  it.  Now  the  ruling  passion  of  our  Sa- 
viour, is  the  love  of  doing  good.  My  meat,  says  he,  is 
to  do  the  will  of  my  Father  and  to  finish  his  work.  And 
again  he  says,  It  is  more  blessed  to  give  than  to  receive. 
Agreeably,  we  find  that,  when  on  earth,  he  went  about 
doing  good,  and,  where  he  found  opportunities  of  doing 
the  most  good,  there  he  always  made  the  longest  stay  ; 
nor  do  we  find  that,  in  a  single  instance,  he  left  any  place 
until  he  had  done  all  the  good  they  would  allow  him  to 
do,  and  had  healed  all  who  either  came  or  were  brought 
to  him  for  that  purpose.    If  in  any  place  he  did  not  do 


GRACIOUS  VISITS  OF  CHRIST. 


245 


many  mighty  works,  it  was  because  of  their  unbelief. 
It  is  the  same  still.  Where  he  finds  opportunities  of 
doing  the  greatest  good,  there  he  ever  best  loves  to  stay. 

If  then  we  would  prolong  his  gracious  visits,  we  must 
furnish  him  with  opportunities  of  doing  good,  and  keep 
him  constantly  employed  in  this  blessed  work.  We  must 
bring  to  him  ourselves,  our  children,  our  friends  and 
acquaintance,  to  be  pardoned,  instructed,  sanctified,  and 
saved.  We  must,  not  leave  him  without  employment  for 
a  single  day  ;  and  if  he  begins  to  withdraw,  we  must  lay 
the  sick,  the  dying,  and  the  dead  across  his  path  ;  for 
nothing  will  stop  his  departure,  like  such  an  obstacle  as 
this.  Omnipotent  as  he  is,  he  cannot  step  over  a  perish- 
ing soul,  laid  by  faith  across  his  way.  As  unbelief  can 
paralize  his  arm,  so  faith  can  constrain  him  to  work  ; 
and  with  gentle,  but  irresistible  force,  arrest  his  progress, 
even  when  he  4ias  begun  to  withdraw. 

Such,  in  brief,  are  the  means  which  must  be  employ- 
ed by  those  who  wish  to  prevent  the  Saviour's  departure. 
I  proceed  to  notice,  as  was  proposed, 

II.  Some  of  the  reasons  which  should  induce  us  to  > 
employ  these  means. 

1.  We  ought  to  employ  these  means,  because  a  neg- 
lect of  them  will  infallibly  grieve  and  offend  our  Re- 
deemer. Every  being  who  is  capable  of  feeling  affec- 
tion, wishes  to  have  his  affection  returned ;  to  have  his 
favors  received  with  thankfulness,  to  have  his  presence 
desired,  to  be  beloved  by  those  whom  he  loves  ;  and,  on 
the  contrary,  every  one  feels  grieved  and  offended,  when 
those,  whom  he  has  loved,  and  loaded  with  benefits,  treat 
him  with  ingratitude  and  neglect,  and  manifest  no  desire 
for  his  presence.  Now  Christ  has  loved  his  people  with 
an  infinite  and  everlasting  love  ;  he  has  given  them  most 
convincing  proofs  of  his  affection  ;  he  has  bestowed  up- 
on them  blessings  unspeakably  valuable,  and  purchased 
at  an  infinite  expense  ;  he  rejoices  in  the  prospect  of  en- 
joying their  society  forever  in  those  mansions  which  he 
has  prepared  for  their  residence  ;  and,  therefore,  he 


21* 


246 


HOW  TO  PROLONG  THE 


wishes  them  to  desire  and  rejoice  in  his  presence  with 
them  on  earth  ;  he  wishes  them  to  prefer  it  to  every  oth- 
er object  ;  and  he,  therefore  is,  he  must  be  grieved  and 
displeased,  when  he  sees  that  this  is  not  the  case  ;  when 
he  sees  them  neglect  those  means  which  have  a  tenden- 
cy to  prolong  his  gracious  visits.  And  say,  my  hearers, 
shall  we  willingly  grieve  and  offend  this  best  of  friends  ? 
Has  he  not  suffered  enough  from  us  already  ?  Did  we 
not  grieve  him  sufficiently  by  our  impenitence,  our  un- 
belief, and  hardness  of  heart,  before  our  conversion  ?  Is 
it  not  enough  that  he  is  despised  and  neglected  by  an  un- 
believing world  ?  Shall  we,  his  professed  disciples, 
unite  with  them,  to  treat  him  with  neglect  ?  When  he 
says  to  us,  Will  ye  also  go  away,  or  compel  me  by  your 
coldness  and  indifference  to  forsake  you  ?  shall  we  not 
reply,  as  with  one  voice,  No,  Lord,  we  will  not  leave 
thee,  nor  willingly  suffer  any  thing  to  compel  thee  to 
leave  us  I 

2.  The  blessed  effects  which  result  from  the  gracious 
visits  of  Christ,  furnish  another  reason  why  we  should 
employ  all  proper  means,  and  make  every  possible  exer- 
tion to  induce  him  to  prolong  them.    Consider  a  mo- 
ment, my  friends,  what  Christ  is,  what  he  possesses,  and 
what  he  does ;  and  you  will  be  convinced,  at  once,  that 
nothing  can  be  so  beneficial,  so  desirable  to  any  individ- 
ual, place,  or  society,  as  his  gracious  presence.    He  is 
the  brightness  of  the  Father's  glory.    In  him  are  hidden 
all  the  treasures  of  wisdom  and  knowledge  ;  his  riches 
are  unsearchable  ;  he  possesses  all  power  in  heaven  and 
on  earth  ;  power  to  forgive  sins  ;  power  to  heal  the  spir- 
itually sick,  and  raise  the  spiritually  dead  ;  power  to  open 
and  shut  the  gates  of  heaven  ;  power  to  bring  good  out 
of  evil,  and  transform  afflictions  to  blessings  ;  power  to 
bestow  every  temporal  and  spiritual  good.    He  is  alsa 
fully  disposed  to  exert  this  power ;   and,  wherever 
he  is,  he  must  exert  it,  for  he  is  too  benevolent  to  be  idle. 
His  arm  of  everlasting  strength  is  unceasingly  prompted 
to  beneficent  exertion  by  a  heart  overflowing  with  bound- 


GRACIOUS  VISITS  OF  CHRIST. 


247 


less  love.  Say  then,  my  friends,  what  blessing  can  be 
comparable  to  the  gracious  presence  of  such  a  being  as 
this  ?  It  is  indeed  every  blessing  in  one.  It  is  an  un- 
speakable gift.  It  is  life,  and  light,  and  joy,  and  salva- 
tion. It  is  heaven,  with  all  its  treasures,  poured  out  upon 
us  at  once  in  a  boundless  flood  ;  for  it  is  the  presence  of 
the  Saviour  which  constitutes  heaven.  And  the  effects 
which  it  produces  are  such  as  might  naturally  be  expec- 
ted from  such  a  source.  It  fills  the  hearts  of  believers 
with  joy  and  peace,  their  minds  with  knowledge,  their 
life  with  praise  and  thanksgiving,  and  their  hands  with 
every  good  work.  It  sweetens  every  temporal  blessing ; 
it  gives  power  and  efficacy  to  all  the  means  of  grace  ;  it 
promotes  the  cause  of  God  and  religion  ;  it  builds  up  and 
beautifies  the  church  of  Christ ;  To  say  all  in  a  word, 
it  produces  the  salvation  of  immortal  souls.  But  here 
the  powers  of  language  fail.  No  tongue  can  tell,  no 
finite  mind  can  conceive  what  is  done,  when  only  one 
immortal  soul  is  rescued  from  eternal  death,  and  made 
an  heir  of  everlasting  life.  It  is  a  truth,  capable  of 
mathematical  demonstiation,  that  the  salvation  of  one 
such  soul  is  of  incomparably  greater  consequence,  than 
the  temporal  happiness  of  the  whole  race  of  man.  To  say 
every  thing  that  can  be  said,  it  is  an  event  that  causes 
joy  in  heaven,  where  there  is  fulness  of  joy  ;  an  event  in 
Which  God,  and  Christ,  and  angels  tejoice.  But  the 
gracious  presence  of  Christ  never  fails  to  produce  and 
to  multiply  this  event  ;  to  bring,  not  one  only,  but  many 
to  repentance  and  salvation.  Surely,  then,  we  ought  to 
employ  every  possible  means  to  secure  the  presence  of 
a  being  whose  presence  produces  such  effects  as  these. 

3.  Another  reason  which  should  induce  us  to  employ 
these  means,  may  be  found  in  the  evils  which  result  from 
the  Saviour's  departure.  These  evils  are  in  full  pro- 
portion to  the  benefits  which  result  from  his  presence. 
They  respect,  in  the  first  place,  the  church  of  Christ. 
He  is  constituted  head  over  all  things  to  his  church ;  and 
therefore  the  effects,  which  a  church  experiences  on  his 


S48 


HOW  TO  PROLONG  THE 


departure  from  it,  are  similar  to  those  which  would  re- 
sult to  a  human  body  from  the  loss  of  its  head.  For 
instance,  the  head  is  the  seat  of  intelligence,  the  palace, 
the  presence-chamber  of  the  soul,  where  she  holds  her 
court,  and  from  whence  she  issues  forth  her  counsels  and 
commands  to  the  members  of  the  body,.  Take  away  the 
head,  and  the  tongue  loses  its  eloquence,  the  right  hand 
its  cunning,  and  the  feet  their  director.  It  is  the  same 
in  the  body  of  which  Christ  is  the  head.  It  has  no  wis- 
dom, nor  knowledge,  nor  intelligence  without  him.  Its 
members  know  not  what  to  do  ;  they  have,  in  a  spiritual 
sense,  neither  eyes,  nor  ears,  without  their  head  ;  and, 
therefore,  infallibly  wander,  and  stumble,  and  fall.  We 
have  no  sufficiency  of  ourselves. 

Again  ;  the  head  is  the  bond  of  union.  Take  away 
the  head  from  a  human  body,  and  the  members  soon 
separate  and  moulder  into  dust.  So  Christ  is  the  only 
bond  of  union  to  his  members.  While  he  remains  with 
them,  they  are  firmly  united  ;  but  when  he  departs,  the 
connecting  tie  is  broken  ;  jealousies,  dissensions,  and  di- 
visions arise  ;  the  church  becomes  like  a  rope  of  sand  ; 
its  members  are  easily  separated  and  split  into  parties 
and  every  one's  heart,  and  hand,  and  tongue,  is  turned 
against  his  brother. 

Farther  ;  the  head  is  necessary  to  the  growth  of  the 
body.  Without  the  head,  the  body  can  receive  no 
nourishment,  and  consequently  no  strength  ;  its  growth 
is  immediately  suspended.  It  is  the  same  with  the  body 
of  Christ.  His  presence  always  causes  its  increase  both 
in  numbers  and  in  graces.  But  when  he  departs,  its 
growth  ceases.  Spiritual  nourishment  is  no  longer  re- 
ceived, and  the  whole  body  declines. 

Once  more  ;  the  head  is  the  seat  of  life  and  sensa- 
tion. Take  away  the  head,  and  death  ensues.  The 
body  becomes  insensible,  as  the  clod  of  earth  from  which 
it  was  formed.  It  is  the  same  with  the  church.  Take 
away  Christ  its  head,  its  life,  and  it  dies.  Nothing  re- 
mains, but  a  lifeless,  insensible,  putrefying  carcase,  fit 

I 

i  >'. 


GRACIOUS  VISITS  OF  CHRIST. 


249 


only  to  produce  and  become  food  for  worms.  Well 
therefore,  might  the  Saviour  say  to  his  disciples, 
Without  me  ye  can  do  nothing  ;  for  as  the  body  without 
the  spirit  is  dead,  so  the  church  without  Christ  is  also 
dead  ;  and  nothing  but  his  return  can  restore  it  to  life. 
Without  his  presence  too,  impenitent  sinners  must  remain 
impenitent,  and  of  course  inevitably  perish  ;  for  if  the 
living  sicken  and  die,  when  he  departs,  it  is  evident  that, 
without  him,  the  dead  will  not  arise  to  life.  The  means 
of  grace  may  be  employed,  but  they  will  have  no  effect ; 
or  rather,  they  will  produce  effects  the  most  fatal.  They 
will  become  a  savor  of  death  unto  death.  Ministers 
may  still  labor,  but  it  will  be  in  vain  ;  for,  without  Christ, 
Paul  may  plant,  and  Appollos  water  to  no  purpose. 
Sinners  will  die,  one  after  another,  and  fall  into  the 
hands  of  that  God  who  is  a  consuming  fire  ;  while  their 
posterity  will  grow  up,  ignorant  and  vicious,  to  walk  in 
the  steps  of  their  sinful  parents,and  finally  share  their  fate. 
To  say  all  in  a  word,  the  situation  of  a  place,  which  the 
Saviour  has  finally  forsaken,  is  such  as  the  situation  of 
the  world  would  have  been,  if  a  Saviour  had  never  been 
provided  ;  or  rather,  it  is  worse  ;  since  they  will  have  to 
answer  for  the  unbelief  which  compelled  him  to  depart. 
Endeavor,  my  friends,  to  conceive,  if  you  can,what  would 
be  the  situation  of  our  world  without  the  sun.  Every 
thing  living  would  speedily  die  ;  frost  and  darkness  would 
seal  up  the  earth,  and  nothing  but  sterility,  and  death, 
and  eternal  night,  and  endless  winter  would  remain. 
Similar  effects  would  result  in  the  moral  world  from  the 
final  departure  of  Christ ;  for  he  is  the  Sun  of  Righteous- 
ness. There  is  no  spiritual  light,  or  warmth,  or  life,  or 
fertility  without  him  ;  every  heart,  every  habitation,  every 
place,  of  which  he  takes  a  final  leave,  is  given  up  to 
night  without  day  ;  to  a  winter  without  a  spring  ;  and 
nothing  remains  for  such,  but  a  certain  fearful  looking 
for  of  judgment.  The  harvest  being  past,  the  summer 
ended,  they  will  not,  they  cannot  be  saved.  Now  since 
such  are  the  consequences  of  Christ's  final  departure  ; 


4 


250 


HOW  TO  PROLONG  THE 


and  since,  whenever  he  departs,  we  know  not  that  he 
will  again  return,  ought  we  not,  when  we  are  favored 
with  his  gracious  presence,  to  employ  every  possible 
means  to  induce  him  to  continue  it  ? 

4.  The  conduct  of  impenitent  sinners  affords  another 
reason  why  we  should  do  this.  They  are  continually 
doing  every  thing  in  their  power  to  provoke  the  Saviour 
§  to  leave  the  place  where  they  reside.  Every  day,  and 
especially  every  Sabbath,  they  do  in  effect  by  their  un- 
belief, by  their  neglect  of  his  gracious  invitations,  and 
their  other  sins,  put  the  Saviour  from  them  ;  and,  like 
the  Gadarenes,  urge  him  to  depart.  As  often  as  he 
sees  them  in  his  house,  he  is  constrained  to  look  on  them 
with  grief,  on  account  of  the  hardness  of  their  hearts* 
Now  since  the  enemies  of  Christ  are  thus  constantly 
provoking  him  to  leave  us,  it  is  evident  that  his  friends 
ought  to  be  proportionably  diligent  in  endeavoring  to 
prevent  it,  lest  when  he  sees  many  wishing  for  his  ab- 
sence, and  few  or  none  earnestly  desirous  of  his  pres- 
ence, he  should  withdraw,  no  more  to  return. 

And  now,  my  Christian  friends,  can  any  thing  more 
be  necessary  to  induce  you  to  imitate  the  conduct  of 
those  who  are  mentioned  in  our  text  ?  We  have  as 
much  reason  to  believe  that  the  Saviour  has  been  with 
us,  as  if  we  had  seen  him.  The  works  which  he  has 
done  among  us,  bear  witness  of  him.  We  have  also 
reason  to  hope  that  he  is  still  with  us  ;  or,  at  least,  that 
he  has  only  begun  to  withdraw,  that  he  may  see  wheth- 
er we  suitably  prize  his  presence  ;  whether  we  will  fol- 
low him  and  urge  his  longer  stay.  And  can  any  who 
profess  to  love  him  be  idle  or  unconcerned  at  such  a 
time  as  this  ?  Is  it  necessary  to  urge  those  who  know 
the  blessed  effects  of  his  presence  better  than  We  ca-n 
describe  them,  to  exert  themselves  for  the  purpose  of 
preventing  his  departure  ?  Will  you.  not  strive  to  ban- 
ish from  your  hearts,  from  your  houses,  from  the  church, 
every  thing  which  may  provoke  him  to  leave  us  ?  If 
he  has  not  departed,  we  shall  find  him  at  his  table, 


tf&ACIOUS  VISITS  OP  CHRIST. 


251 


Let  us  then  seek  him  there,  and  beseech  him,  and  stay 
him,  if  possible,  that  he  may  not  depart  from  us.  I 
need  not  tell  you,  that  we  have  great  and  unusual  en- 
couragement to  do  this.  I  need  not  tell  you,  that  the 
present  is  a  day  of  grace,  of  universal  grace  and  bounty. 
It  is  confidently  believed  that  never  before,  in  the  same 
space  of  time,  were  so  many  persons  converted  in  this 
country,  as  within  the  last  two  years.  Thousands,  and 
perhaps  tens  of  thousands  have  been  added  to  the  church 
of  Christ ;  and  the  number  is  rapidly  augmenting.  I 
have  been  informed  by  good  authority  that  in  one  vil- 
lage in  New  England  every  person  above  the  age  of  fif- 
teen has  become  hopefully  pious.  My  friends,  what 
Christ  has  done  in  other  places  he  may  do  for  us.  His 
hand  is  not  shortened.  Nothing  but  our  iniquities  can 
provoke  him  to  leave  us.  We  are  not  straitened  in  him? 
but  in  ourselves. 

I  am  unwilling  to  dismiss  this  subject  without  saying 
something  to  my  impenitent  hearers  ;  but  what  can  I 
say  to  them  ?  You  do  not  realize  the  Saviour's  presence. 
You  do  not  feel  your  need  of  the  blessing  he  offers  ; 
you  do  not  desire  his  presence  ;  you  rather  wish  for, 
than  dread  his  absence.  -You  will  not  accept  his  invita- 
tions, nor  seek  an  interest  in  his  favor.  Even  now  you 
are  about  to  depart  from  his  table  ;  and  Jhus,  in  effect, 
you  entreat  him  to  depart  from  you.  But  pause,  and 
reflect  a  moment.  To  what  are  the  present  unusual 
religious  appearances  owing  ?  What  is  it  that  excites 
hundreds  and  thousands,  in  all  parts  of  our  country,  to 
turn  their  attention  to  religion  ?  You  can  see  no  cause, 
but  there  must  be  a  cause,  and  a  powerful  one,  to  pro- 
duce such  effects.  And  can  you  prove  that  God  is  not 
the  cause  ?  Do  not  effects  which  we  witness  strikingly 
correspond  with  our  Saviour's  description  of  the  opera- 
tion of  his  Spirit?  The  wind  bloweth  were  it  listeth, 
and  thou  nearest  the  sound  thereof,  but  canst  not  tell 
whence  it  cometh  and  whither  it  goeth  ;  so  is  every 
one  who  is  born  of  the  Spirit.    Now,  my  friends,  you 


252 


HOW  TO  PROLONG  THE 


Jiear  the  sound  of  this  heavenly  wind ;  you  see  its  effects 
upon  others ;  but  feel  little  or  nothing  of  them  your- 
selves. And  is  it  not  important  that  you  should  feel 
them  ?  If  they  are  really  the  effects  of  God's  Spirit, 
and  if  they  are  necessary  to  your  salvation,  it  undoubt- 
edly is  so.  And,  my  friends,  can  any  of  you  prove  that 
they  are  not  ?  You  must  prove  this  ;  you  must  prove 
that  all  Christians  are  deceived,  that  there  is  no  such 
thing  as  experimental  religion,  that  all  which  is  said  of 
spiritual  illumination  is  a  delusion,  or  become  the  sub- 
jects of  them  yourselves  ;  or,  dreadful  alternative  !  take 
your  place  with  the  unclean,  and  the  abominable,  in 
that  lake  which  burneth  with  fire  ! 


SERMON  XVIII. 

The  Churches  increased. 

[Preached  at  the  first  meeting  of  the  Cumberland  Conference  of  Churches.] 


ACTS  IX.  31. 

THEN  HAD  THE  CHURCHES  REST  THROUGHOUT  ALL  JUDEA, AND  GAL- 
ILEE, AND  SAMARIA,  AND  WERE  EDIFIED  ;  AND  WALKING  IN  THE 
FEAR  OF  THE  LORD,  AND  IN  THE  COMFORT  OF  THE  HOLY  GHOST, 
WERE  MULTIPLIED. 

In  this  passage,  my  friends,  we  have  two  things  pre- 
sented to  our  view,  which  it  is  at  once  pleasing  and  un- 
usual to  see.    In  the  first  place,  we  see  the  church  of 
Christ  enjoying  an  interval  of  rest.    That  this,  though 
a  very  pleasing,  should  be  an  uncommon  sight  in  a  world 
like  this,  is  not  surprising.    While  passing  through  it 
the  church  of  Christ  is  in  an  enemy's  country  ;  a  coun- 
try in  which  it  is  exposed  to  constant  trials,  temptations 
and  assaults;  and  in  which  we  are  warned  to  expect 
tribulation.    Like  the  first  disciples  it  is  embarked  on  a 
tempestuous  sea,  where  the  waves  run  high,  and  the 
winds  are  contrary;  while  the  haven  of  eternal  rest 
seems  far  distant,  and  a  night  black  with  stormy  clouds, 
conceals  it  from  view.    But  when,  as  is  sometimes  the 
case,  Jesus  comes  to  visit  his  church  walking  upon  the 
tempestuous  sea,  then  for  a  short  season  the  storms  are 
hushed,  the  clouds  scattered  and  a  great  calm  succeeds. 
Then,  as  in  the  text,  the  churches  enjoy  rest.    In  the 
second  place,  we  see  in  this  passage  what  is  still  more 
uncommon  and  pleasing,  the  church  improving  this  sea- 
son of  rest  in  a  suitable  manner.    Generally  speaking, 
22 


254 


THE  CHURCHES  INCREASED. 


the  churches  of  Christ  are  far  from  doing  this.  On  the 
contrary,  in  the  short  intervals  of  outward  peace  and 
prosperity  allotted  them,  they  are  prone  to  decline,  to 
forsake  their  first  love,  and  become  formal,  useless  and 
conformed  to  the  world  ;  so  that  storms  are  often  less 
dangerous  and  hurtful  to  them  than  a  calm.  But  in  the 
present  instance,  this  was  not  the  case.  The  churches 
improved  this  interval  of  rest  in  some  measure  as  they  ' 
ought.  Hence  they  were  edified  or  built  up,  and  walk- 
ing in  the  fear  of  God,  and  in  the  comfort  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,  were  multiplied.  In  other  words,  their  numbers, 
as  well  as  their  graces,  were  greatly  increased. 

The  mode  of  expression  here  employed  plainly  inti- 
mated, that  the  great  additions  made  to  their  churches 
were  a  consequence  of  their  walking  in  the  fear  of  God 
and  in  the  comfort  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  From  the  pas- 
sage, therefore,  may  be  fairly  deduced  the  following  pro- 
position : 

When  the  members  of  churches  walk  in  the  fear  of 
God  and  in  the  comfort  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  great  addi- 
tions will  probably  be  made  to  them  of  such  as  shall  be 
saved. 

To  illustrate  and  establish  this  proposition,  is  my  pres- 
ent design. 

In  the  prosecution  of  this  .design  I  am  led  to  inquire, 
I.  What  is  meant  by  walking  in  the  fear  of  God  1  By 
the  fear  of  God  is  here  evidently  meant,  not  that  guilty, 
slavish  fear,  which  impenitent  sinners  often  feel,  but  the 
holy,  filial  fear,  which  is  peculiar  to  real  Christians. 
This  fear  is  every  where  represented  by  the  inspired 
writers  as  one  of  the  most  essential  parts  of  true  religion, 
and  is  indeed  not  unfrequently  used  by  them  to  denote 
religion  itself.  It  is  produced  and  maintained  in  the 
heart  by  the  agency  of  the  divine  Spirit.  It  arises  from 
a  believing  apprehension  and  an  experimental  knowl- 
edge of  the  existence,  character,  perfections,  and  con- 
stant presence  of  Jehovah;  it  is  occasioned  by  a  spirit- 
ual discovery,  made  to  the,  soul,  of  his  awful,  adorable 
ijih  infinite  perfections  ;  and  its  natural  effects  are,  ven- 


THE  CHURCHES  INCREASED. 


255 


eration  for  God,  submission  to  his  will,  obedience  to  his 
commands,  and  a  holy  watchful  care  to  avoid  every  thing 
which  may  grieve,  displease  or  provoke  him  to  forsake 
us.  From  the  brief  description,  of  the  nature  and  ef- 
fects of  Godly  fear,  it  appears,  that  walking  in  the  fear 
of  God  implies, 

1.  A  habitual  and  profound  veneration  for  his  char- 
acter and  institutions.  This  veneration  is  directly  op- 
posed to  irreverence,  carelessness,  and  formality  in  the 
service  of  God.  It  extends  to  every  thing  of  a  religious 
nature  with  which  he  is  connected.  It  leads  those  who 
are  under  its  influence  to  worship  him  with  humility  and 
godly  fear;  to  venerate  his  names  and  attributes;  to 
treat  his  ordinances  and  institutions  with  reverential  re- 
gard, to  read  and  hear  his  word  with  humility  and  pros- 
tration of  soul,  to  honor  and  sanctify  his  holy  day,  and 
to  remember  that  holiness  becometh  his  house  forever. 
The  profound  veneration  for  God,  and  for  every  thing 
of  a  religious  nature  wkh  which  he  is  immediately  con- 
nected, is  required  of  us  by  the  inspired  writers  in  al-* 
most  innumerable  passages.  Let  us  have  grace,  where- 
by we  may  serve  God  acceptably,  with  reverence  and 
godly  fear.  Sanctify  the  Lord  God  in  your  hearts,  and 
let  him  be  your  fear  and  your  dread.  Stand  in  awe 
and  sin  not.  Keep  thy  foot  when  i\\ou  goest  to  the 
house  of  God.  Serve  the  Lord  with  fear  and  rejoice 
with  trembling.  The  Lord  is  in  his  holy  temple,  let  all 
the  earth  keep  silence  before  him.  Remember  the  Sab- 
bath day  to  keep  it  holy.  Thou  shalt  not  take  the  name 
of  thy  God  in  vain ;  for  the  Lord  will  not  hold  such 
guiltless.  To  this  man  will  I  look,  who  tremble th  at  my 
word.  It  requires  but  a  very  small  acquaintance  with 
the  Scriptures  to  convince  us,  that  the  most  eminent 
saints,  and  those  who  were  admitted  to  the  greatest  inti- 
macy with  their  Maker,  have  ever  been  most  distinguish- 
ed for  the  reverence  and  godly  fear  which  we  are  con- 
sidering, and  which  these  passages  so  expressly  require. 
These  dispositions  are  far  more  important  than  most 
Christians  are  aware  ;  for  God  is  a  jealous  God,  jealous 


256 


THE  CHURCHES  INCREASED. 


for  the  honor  of  his  great  name,  and  he  has  given  us 
many  awful  proofs  that  he  will  not  suffer  himself  to  be 
irreverently  treated  with  impunity.  On  a  most  awful 
occasion  he  said,  I  will  be  sanctified  in  them  that  draw 
near  to  me.  Churches,  therefore,  whose  ministers  do 
not  feel  and  exhibit  this  veneration  for  God,  who  wor- 
ship him  in  a  formal,  careless  manner,  and  take  little 
or  no  care  to  bring  their  hearts  into  a  suitable  frame, 
when  they  are  about  to  enter  his  sanctuary,  approach 
the  throne  of  grace,  or  come  to  the  table  of  Christ,  have 
no  claim  to  be  considered  as  walking  in  the  fear  of  God; 
nor  any  reason  to  hope  for  the  tokens  of  his  favor. 

2.  Walking  in  the  fear  of  God  implies  humble  and 
unreserved  submission  to  his  authority.  That  it  is  the 
natural  tendency  of  fear  to  produce  submission  to  the 
being  feared,  you  need  not  be  told.  This  submission 
will  correspond  in  nature  and  effects  with  the  fear  which 
occasions  it.  A  servile  fear  will  produce  only  a  con- 
strained, apparent  submission  ;  but  the  fear  we  are  de- 
scribing will  produce  a  submission  cordial  and  unreser- 
ved, such  as  the  Scriptures  require.  The  influence  of 
this  fear  will  extend  to  all  the  powers  and  faculties  of 
the  soul.  It  will  constrain  the  understanding  to  submit 
implicitly  to  the  authority  of  God's  revealed  will ;  pro- 
ducing that  meek,  docile,  child-like  acquiescence  in  its 
decisions,  without  which  our  Saviour  assures  us,  that 
none  shall  enter  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  This  disposi- 
tion is  directly  opposed  to  that  pride  of  human  reason, 
that  presumptuous,  cavilling,  unyielding  spirit,  which 
leads  men  to  set  up  their  own  vain  fancies  and  prejudi- 
ces in  opposition  to  the  word  of  God  ;  to  deny,  pervert, 
or  explain  away  those  parts  of  it  which  they  dislike  ;  and 
to  object  against  every  thing  which  does  not  coincide 
with  their  own  humors,  or  preconceived  opinions.  A 
person  who  is  suitably  influenced  by  this  temper  needs 
no  arguments  to  convince  him  of  the  truth  of  any  doc- 
trine, however  mysterious  or  contrary  to  his  previous 
sentiments  it  may  be,  which  comes  supported  by  the 
authority  of  a  plain  thus  saith  the  Lord.    This  authori- 


THE   CHURCHES  INCREASED.  257 

ty  is  to  him,  what  oaths  are  said  to  be  in  another  case, 
an  end  of  all  strife,  and  dissention,  and  he  bows  down 
before  it  with  a  ready  and  pleased  submission. 

The  fear  of  God  also  influences  the  will,  rendering  it 
pliable  and  submissive ;  and  conforming  it  to  the  will 
of  God.  Its  language  to  God  is,  not  my  will  but  thine 
be  done.  It  is  therefore  directly  opposed  to  that  inde- 
pendent, rebellious,  repining  spirit,  which  leads  men  to 
set  themselves  up  as  the  rivals  of  Jehovah,  to  question 
or  disregard  his  authority,  to  oppose  his  sovereignty,  to 
complain  of  the  strictness  of  his  law,  and;  to  murmur  at 
the  dispensations  of  his  providence.  It  leads  those  who 
are  under  its  influence  to  rejoice  that  the  Lord  reigns, 
and  to  feel  pleased  and  satisfied  with  what  he  is,  with 
all  that  he  says,  and  with  every  thing  he  does.  The 
indulgence  of  a  discontented,  unreconciled  temper  is 
therefore  evidently  incompatible  with  walking  in  the  fear 
of  God. 

Farther ;  the  fear  of  God  controls  and  regulates  the 
affections.  It  leads  those  who  are  under  its  influence 
to  love  and  to  hate,  to  hope  and  to  fear,  to  rejoice  and 
to  mourn  in  conformity  with  the  divine  commands.  It 
teaches  us  to  love  being,  truth,  and  holiness ;  and  to 
hate  nothing  but  sin.  It  teaches  us  to  hope  for  glory, 
honor,  and  immortality  through  the  merits  of  Christ,  and 
to  fear  nothing  but  the  displeasure  oT  God,  and  those 
sins  which  excite  it.  It  teaches  us  to  rejoice  in  God, 
and  to  mourn  for  our  sins,  and  for  the  sins  and  miseries 
of  others.  These  effects  it  produces  in  direct  propor- 
tion to  the  degree  in  which  its  influence  is  felt. 

Lastly  ;  the  fear  of  God  controls,  in  some  measure 
at  least,  the  imagination.  It  is  true  that  this  lawless, 
and  almost  untameable  power  seems  to  be  less  influen- 
ced by  the  fear  of  God,  than  any  other  faculty  of  the 
soul.  Still,  wherever  the  fear  of  God  exists,  the  im- 
agination will  be  constrained,  in  some  degree,  to  submit 
to  it..  Its  sallies  will  be  carefully  watched,  its  excur- 
sive wanderings  will  be  checked  ;  it  will  be  speedily 
recalled  when  it  roams  into  forbidden  ground,  and  be 
22* 


258 


THE  CHURCHES  INCREASED. 


often  compelled  to  assist  the  Christian  in  his  meditations 
on  death,  judgment,  and  the  realities  of  eternity.  Know- 
ing that  the  thought  of  foolishness  is  sin,  he  who  fears 
God  will  at  least  strenuously  endeavor  to  prevent  vain 
thoughts  from  lodging  within  him,  and  his  endeavors  will 
gradually  be  crowned  with  success.  Such  is  that  sub- 
mission of  the  soul  to  God,  which  walking  in  his  fear 
implies. 

3.  Walking  in  the  fear  of  God  implies  a  holy  jeal- 
ousy of  ourselves,  and  a  watchful  care  to  avoid  every 
thing  which  may  grieve,  displease,  or  provoke  him  to 
forsake  us.  The  kind  of  fear,  which  we  are  describing, 
proceeds  from  love.  He  who  is  under  its  influence 
fears  God  only  because  he  loves  him,  and  he  fears  him 
supremely  because  he  loves  him  supremely.  This  su- 
preme affection  leads  him  to  desire,  above  all  things, 
God's  favor  and  presence,  and  to  dread  nothing  so  much 
as  their  loss.  He  feels  that  God's  favor  is  life,  and  that 
his  loving  kindness  is  far  better  than  life.  He  feels  that 
God  is  the  health,  the  strength,  the  happiness,  the  life, 
the  salvation  of  his  soul.  In  one  word,  God  is  to  him 
all  in  all.  His  language  is,  Whom  have  1  in  heaven 
but  thee  ?  and  there  is  none  on  earth  I  desire  besides 
thee.  When  God  is  present,  difficulties  vanish,  bur- 
dens become  light,  afflictions  are  pleasant,  sorrow  is 
turned  to  joy,  a  new  lustre  is  spread  over  the  whole 
face  of  nature,  temporal  blessings  are  enjoyed  with  dou- 
ble relish,  and  spiritual  privileges  become  privileges  in- 
deed. But  when  God  departs,  strength,  and  hope,  and 
happiness  depart  with  him.  The  Christian  finds  that 
his  sun  is  gone  ;  his  spirits  droop  ;  his  graces  languish  ; 
existence  becomes  a  burden  ;  the  means  of  grace  are 
insipid,  and  temporal  friends  and  comforts  become  like 
pictures  in  the  absence  of  light,  which,  however  beauti- 
ful, can  afford  no  pleasure.  Since  such  are  the  conse- 
quences of  God's  absence,  it  is  not  surprising  that  the 
Christian  should  fear  it  above  all  things  ;  and  that  this 
fear  should  lead  him  to  guard  with  scrupulous  watchful- 
ness and  care  against  every  thing  which  may  tend  to  ex- 


THE  CHURCHES  INCREASED. 


259 


pose  him  to  such  an  affliction.  Speaking  of  the  cov- 
enant which  he  will  make  with  his  people,  God  says,  I 
will  put  my  fear  in  their  hearts,  that  they  shall  not  depart 
from  me.  Hence  it  appears,  that  it  is  the  natural  ten- 
dency of  the  fear  of  God  to  preserve  those  who  feel  its 
influence  from  apostacy  and  declension.  It  leads  them 
like  Enoch  to  walk  with  God  ;  to  keep  near  to  him,  to 
wait  upon  him  in  the  diligent  use  of  all  the  appointed 
means  of  grace,  and  to  guard  against  the  first  symptoms 
of  declension ;  and,  when  asked  whether  they  will  for- 
sake him,  to  reply  with  Peter,  Lord,  to  whom  shall  we 
go,  thou  hast  the  words  of  eternal  life.  Such,  my  friends, 
are  the  principal  effects  of  the  fear  of  God  ;  and  if  we 
would  walk  in  his  fear,  we  must  feel  and  exhibit  these 
effects,  not  only  occasionally,  but  habitually,  and  like 
David  have  respect  to  all  God's  commandments,  and  be 
in  the  fear  of  God  all  the  day  long. 

In  the  preceding  remarks  I  have  attempted  to  show 
what  effects  the  fear  of  God  will  produce  upon  the  tem- 
per and  conduct  of  an  individual,  who  walks  in  it,  or  is 
habitually  under  its  influence.  Now,  as  churches  are 
composed  of  individuals,  it  follows,  that,  when  all,  or 
nearly  all  the  members  of  a  church  live  under  the  habit- 
ual influence  of  this  principle,  the  church  itself,  consid- 
ered as  a  body,  will  walk  in  the  fear  of  God  ;  and  all 
the  duties  which  are  incumbent  on  it  as  a  body,  will  be 
diligently  and  faithfully  performed.  Of  those  duties, 
which  are  incumbent  on  the  church  itself,  rather  than  on 
any  member  of  it  separately  considered,  the  first  is,  to 
provide  the  means  of  grace  and  of  religious  instruction: 
for  itself,  its  children,  and  those  who  are  immediately 
connected  with  it.  It  is  the  indispensable  duty  of  every 
church  to  provide,  if  possible,  a  suitable  place  for  the 
public  worship  of  God,  and  a  competent  teacher  to  lead 
in  his  worship,  and  perform  the  other  duties  of  the  min- 
isterial office.  Every  church  ought  to  consider  these 
things  as  the  necessaries  of  life  ;  for  such  they  are  in  the 
strictest  sense.  Indeed,  they  have  a  much  better  claim 
to  this  title,  than  many  things  to  which  it  is  commonly 


260 


THE  CHURCHES  INCREASED. 


applied.    If,  as  our  Saviour  informs  us,  one  thing  is  need- 
ful, then  the  means  of  obtaining  that  one  thing,  are  of  the 
first,  and  most  pressing  necessity.    It  is  indispensably 
necessary  that  a  Christian  should  know  and  do  the  will 
of  God  ;  but  it  is  not  necessary  that  he  should  live.  It 
is  indispensably  necessary  that  children  should  be  in- 
structed and  converted,  but  it  is  not  in  the  same  sense 
necessary  that  they  should  live.    It  is  better  that  he  and 
his  family  should  be  without  a  shelter,  and  without  food, 
than  that  they  should  be  without  the  means  of  grace,  of 
religious  instruction  and  salvation.    Every  church  which 
walks  in  the  fear  of  God  will  feel  this,  and  act  upon  this 
principle.    They  will  say,  we  can  do  without  every 
thing  else,  better  than  we  can  do  without  the  preaching 
of  the  gospel.    They  will  say,  If  he  who  provideth  not 
for  the  temporal  wants  of  his  own,  and  especially  for  those 
of  his  own  house,  has  denied  the  faith,  and  is  worse  than 
an  infidel,  what  is  he  who  provides  not  for  the  far  more 
pressing  spiritual  wants  of  his  own  soul,  and  of  those 
who  are  dependant  on  him  ?    Our  fathers  felt,  and  act- 
ed on  this  principle.    As  soon  as  a  town  contained  six- 
teen families  they  felt  able  to  support  the  gospel,  and 
did  support  it.    And  every  church  which  walks  in  the 
fear  of  God  will  feel  and  act  in  a  similar  manner.  They 
will  fear,  that  if  they  neglect  it,  they  shall  be  found  guil- 
ty of  lightly  esteeming  those  precious  gifts  which  Christ 
purchased  with  his  blood,  that  he  might  bestow  them  on 
the  rebellious;  for  among  these  gifts,  pastors  and  teacher* 
for  the  work  of  the  ministry,  hold  a  conspicuous  place  ; 
they  will  fear  that  by  this  neglect  they  shall  offend  God, 
and  provoke  him  to  forsake  them  ;  an  evil,  which  as  wc 
have  already  seen,  those  who  walk  in  his  fear  dread  above 
all  otherjevils.  They  will  fear  that,  if,  like  the  Jews,  they 
run  every  man  to  take  care  of  his  own  house,  and  suffer 
the  house  of  God  to  lie  waste,  he  will  scourge  them  for 
it  as  he  did  his  ancient  church,  by  withholding  his  bless- 
ing, and  blasting  their  labors.    And  they  will  fear  that, 
if  their  children  are  suffered  to  grow  up  without  enjoy- 
ing the  stated  preaching  of  the  gospel,  and  without  form- 


THE  CHURCHES  INCREASED. 


261 


mg  habits  of  observing  the  Sabbath,  and  attending  stated- 
ly on  the  public  worship  of  God,  they  will  acquire  habits 
of  neglecting  all  religious  institutions,  and  perish  in  their 
sins.  Surely  no  church,  which  does  not  dread  these 
evils,  and  guard  against  them,  so  far  as  they  are  able, 
by  providing  a  suitable  place  of  worship,  and  a  compe- 
tent religious  teacher,  can  be  justly  said  to  walk  in  the 
fear  of  God. 

The  second  duty  incumbent  on  churches,  considered 
as  such,  consists  in  faithfully  maintaining  the  discipline  of 
Christ  in  his  house.  This  duty  a  church  which  walks  in 
the  fear  of  God  will,  it  is  evident,  carefully  perform. 
They  will  not,  by  neglecting  it,  render  themselves  par- 
takers of  other  men's  sins.  They  will  tolerate  among 
themselves  none  of  those  sins  which  are  expressly  said 
to  exclude  such  as  are  guilty  of  them  from  heaven. 
They  will  admit  none  but  such  as  exhibit  scriptural  evi- 
dence that  they  are  the  disciples  of  Christ,  and  they  will 
be  induced  by  no  worldly  motives  to  retain  such  as  he 
requires  them  to  exclude.  This  they  will  do,  lest  God 
should  forsake  them,  if  he  sees  among  them  the  accurs- 
ed thing.  A  church  which  neglects  this  duty,  which 
spares  known  offenders  through  fear  of  temporal  incon- 
venience or  loss,  cannot  be  said  to  walk  in  the  fear  of 
God.  They  fear  something  else  more  than  they  fear 
him. 

A  third  dutv  incumbent  on  churches,  considered  as 
such,  consists  in  assembling  at  proper  seasons  for  social 
worship.  This  duty  an  apostle  expressly  enjoins.  For- 
sake not  the  assembling  of  yourselves  together,  as  the 
manner  of  some  is  ;  but  exhort  one  another  daily.  This 
last  clause  seems  to  intimate  that  he  referred,  .not  so 
much  to  assembling  on  the  Sabbath,  as  to  more  private 
assemblies  for  the  purpose  of  mutual  exhortation  and 
social  prayer.  Such  meetings  will  be  highly  valued 
and  carefully  maintained  by  every  church  which  walks 
in  the  fear  of  God. 

A  fourth  duty  incumbent  on  every  church  considered 
as  such,  is  to  take  care  of  the  religious  education  of  its 


262 


THE  CHURCHES  INCREASED. 


children.  It  is  true  that  the  religious  education  of  chil- 
dren is  a  duty  more  immediately  incumbent  on  their 
parents  ;  but  it  is  incumbent  on  churches  to  take  care 
that  such  of  their  members  as  are  parents  perform  this 
duty.  The  neglect  of  it  ought  to  be  regarded  as  a  sub- 
ject of  church  discipline.  Addressing  his  ancient  church 
as  an  individual,  God  says,  Thou  hast  taken  my  sons 
and  my  daughters  which  thou  hast  borne  unto  me,  and 
hast  sacrificed  them  unto  idols  to  be  devoured.  Is  this 
a  small  matter,  that  thou  hast  slain  my  children  ?  But 
it  is  evident  that  the  Jewish  church  did  not  actually  sa- 
crifice children  to  idols  in  its  collective  capacity.  This 
was  the  act  of  individual  parents.  Yet  because  the 
church  did  not  interpose  to  prevent  the  sacrifice,  it  is 
charged  upon  it  as  the  act  of  the  whole.  And  so  if 
children  of  the  church  are  now  sacrificed  to  Satan  on 
the  altar  of  the  world  by  their  parents,  the  church  itself 
is  answerable  so  far  as  their  own  neglect  was  the  cause. 

Lastly  ;  it  is  the  duty  of  churches,  as  such,  to  assist 
feeble  and  destitute  sister  churches  with  pecuniary  aid 
according  to  their  ability.  The  primitive  churches  con- 
sidered it  as  a  duty,  nay  it  was  often  enjoined  upon  them 
as  a  duty,  to  assist  other  churches,  when  circumstances 
made  it  necessary,  in  supporting  their  poor.  Much 
more  then  may  we  consider  it  as  a  duty  to  assist  in 
furnishing  them  with  the  means  of  grace,  when  without 
such  assistance  they  cannot  obtain  the  blessing.  This 
is  a  duty  which  we  owe,  not  only  to  them,  but  to  the 
cause  of  Christ,  which  will  thus  be  advanced,  and  to 
our  fellow  creatures,  whose  salvation  may  thus  be  effect- 
ed. If  the  love  of  God  does  not  dwell  in  him,  who  can 
see  a  brother  or  sister  destitute  of  daily  food  without 
attempting  to  relieve  them,  how  can  the  fear  of  God 
rule  in  a  church,  which  can  see  sister  churches  destitute 
of  the  bread  of  life,  without  making  an  effort  to  supply 
them  ?    I  proceed  to  inquire, 

IT,  What  is  meant  by  walking  in  the  comforts  of 
the  Holy  Ghost, 


THE  CHURCHES  INCREASED.  .  263 

When  our  blessed  Saviour  was  about  to  be  separated 
from  his  disciples  he  promised  that  he  would  not  leave 
them  comfortless,  but  that  he  would  pray  the  Father, 
who  should  send  them  another  Comforter,  even  the  Spir- 
it of  truth,  that  he  might  abide  with  them  forever.  This 
gracious  promise  he  has  faithfully  performed.  The 
Holy  Ghost  has  been  sent  from  heaven  to  dwell  in  the 
hearts  pi  believers,  and  all  the  comforts  of  a  religious 
nature  which  they  enjoy  on  earth,  are  communicated  by 
him.    These  comforts  are  of  various  kinds,  and  it  is  im- 
possible on  the  present  occasion  fully  to  describe  them. 
We  can  only  mention  some  of  the  principal.  Among 
the  consolations  of  the  Spirit  we  might  perhaps,  without 
much  impropriety,  enumerate  the  graces  which  he  be- 
stows, and  the  temper  which  he  produces.    As  the 
Spirit  of  grace,  he  is  the  author  and  the  preserver  of 
all  those  graces  which  constitute  the  Christian  temper. 
As  the  Spirit  of  God,  he  makes  the  soul  a  partaker  of 
the  divine  nature,  and  creates  it  anew  in  the  image  of 
God.    As  the  Holy  Spirit  he  sanctifies  us  throughout, 
in  spirit,  and  soul,  and  body,  communicating  to  us  that 
holiness  without  which  no  man  can  see  the  Lord.  As 
the  Holy  Ghost  sent  down  from  heaven,  he  produces  in 
us  a  heavenly  temper,  weans  us  from  things  below,  and 
draws  our  affections  to  things  above.    The  fruits  of  the 
Spirit,  says  an  apostle,  are  love,  joy,  peace,  long  suf- 
fering, goodness,  faith,  meekness,  temperance.    Now  if 
any  happiness  is  connected  with  the  exercise  of  these 
graces,  if  there  is  any  pleasure  in  being  holy,  in  resemb- 
ling God,  in  possessing  a  heavenly  temper,  as  there  un- 
doubtedly is  the  greatest,  then  the  graces  which  the 
Spirit  of  God  imparts  and  the  temper  which  he  produ- 
ces, may  justly  be  reckoned  among  the  comforts  of  the 
Holy  Ghost.    But  since  these  fruits  of  the  Spirit  are 
usually  considered  as  something  different  from  his  con- 
solations, we  shall  not  farther  insist  upon  them  on  the 
present  occasion,  though  they  are  doubtless  possessed 
by  all,  who  walk  in  the  comforts  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  Of 
these  comforts  properly  so  called,  I  mention, 


264 


THE  CHURCHES  INCREASED 


1.  Peace  of  conscience,  or,  in  other  words,  peace  with 
God,  arising  from  a  persuasion  wrought  in  the  soul  by 
the  Holy  Spirit,  that  we  are  pardoned  and  accepted  in 
the  Beloved.  It  is  true  that  the  pardon  of  sin  is  procu- 
red for  us  by  the  death  and  intercession  of  Christ ;  but 
it  is  also  true  that  this  blessing  is  applied  to  us  only  by 
the  instrumentality  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  It  is  his  pecu- 
liar work,  to  subdue  the  enmity  and  unbelief  of  our 
hearts,  and  when  this  work  is  accomplished,  to  take 
the  things  which  are  Christ's,  and  shew  them  to  us. 
He  opens  the  eyes  of  the  guilty,  desponding,  and  almost 
despairing  sinner,  and  shews  him  that  Christ  is  just 
Such  a  Saviour  as  he  needs ;  that  he  has  performed 
and  suffered  every  thing  necessary  for  the  complete  sal- 
vation of  his  people ;  that  by  him  all  who  believe  are 
justified  from  those  things  from  which  they  could  not  be 
justified  by  the  law  of  Moses ;  and  that  he  is  able  to 
save,  even  to  the  uttermost,  all  who  come  unto  God  by 
him,  seeing  he  ever  liveth  to  make  intercession  for  them. 
These  precious  encouraging  truths  he  persuades  and 
enables  the  sinner  to  embrace  ;  and  the  consequence 
is,  that,  being  justified  by  faith,  he  has  peace  with  God 
through  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  feels  thet  his  sins 
are  forgiven  him  for  his  name's  sake.  His  conscience 
being  purged  from  dead  works,  no  longer  condemns 
him,  and  therefore  he  has  confidence  towards  God,  and 
knows  by  experience  the  blessedness  of  him,  whose  in- 
iquities are  forgiven,  and  whose  sins  are  covered.  This 
blessedness,  consisting  in  peace  of  conscience  and  peace 
with  God,  he  continues  to  enjoy  so  long  as  he  walks 
in  the  fear  of  God,  and  in  the  comforts  of  the  Holy 
Ghost ;  being  filled,  as  the  apostle  expresses  it,  with  all 
joy  and  peace  in  believing. 

With  this  state  of  pardon  and  acceptance  is  intimate- 
ly connected, 

2.  A  strong  and  well  grounded  hope,  arising  at  times 
to  a  full  assurance,  that  we  are  adopted  into  God's  fam- 
ily, and  that  consequently  we  have  a  title  to  all  the  priv- 
ileges of  his  children.    This  hope,  so  productive  of  hap- 


THE  CHURCHES  INCREASED. 


265 


piness  to  all  who  possess  it,  is  produced  and  maintained 
in  the  souls  of  believers  by  the  Spirit  of  God.  Hence  the 
apostle  prays  that  the  Christians  at  Rome  might  abound 
in  hope,  through  the  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  This 
hope  the  Spirit  produces  and  maintains  by  forming  in  the 
hearts  of  believers  the  image  of  their  heavenly  Father, 
giving  them  a  filial  temper  towards  him,  and  then  shining 
in  upon  his  work  in  their  hearts  and  enabling  them  to 
discern  it.  Agreeably,  we  find  the  apostle  writing  to 
believers,  Ye  have  not  received  the  Spirit  of  bondage 
again  to  fear,  but  ye  have  received  the  Spirit  of  adoption, 
whereby  we  cry,  Abba  Father ;  and  the  Spirit  itself  bear- 
eth  witness  with  our  spirits  that  we  are  the  children  of 
God  ;  and  if  children,  then  heirs,  heirs  of  God  and  joint 
heirs  with  Christ.  Having  thus  convinced  the  believer 
that  he  is  a  child  and  an  heir  of  God,  the  Holy  Spirit 
enables  him  to  claim  and  enjoy  the  privileges  of  a  child 
and  the  apostle  informs  us  that,  through  Christ,  Christians 
have  access  by  one  Spirit  unto  the  Father.  Agreeably, 
so  long  as  Christians  walk  in  the  fear  of  God,  the  Holy 
Spirit  enables  them  at  all  times  to  approach  him  as  their 
Father  in  heaven,  with  holy  boldness  and  filial  confi- 
dence ;  to  make  known  to  him  all  their  wants,  to  cast 
upon  him  all  their  cares",  and  to  claim  his  protection, 
guidance,  assistance,  and  blessing.  He  also  enables 
them  to  understand,  believe,  and  apply  to  themselves  the 
exceeding  great  and  precious  promises  of  his  word  ;  to 
feel  a  strong  confidence  that  he  will  withhold  from  them 
no  good  thing,  and  that  he  will  cause  all  things  to  work 
together  for  their  good.  Thus  he  comforts  and  sup- 
ports them  under  their  various  trials,  and  enables  them 
to  discover,  even  in  the  severest,  new  proofs  that  they 
are  the  children  of  God.  He  teaches  them  that  whom 
the  Lord  loveth  he  chasteneth,  and  scourgeth  every  son 
whom  he  receiveth ;  and  that  their  present  light  afflic- 
tions which  endure  but  for  a  moment,  will  work  out  for 
them  a  far  more  exceeding  and  an  eternal  weight  of 
glory.    Hence  they  are  enabled  even  to  glory  in  tribu- 


23 


266 


THE  CHURCHES  INCREASED. 


lation,  knowing  that  tribulation  worketh  patience  and 
many  other  blessed  effects. 

3.  Another  branch  of  the  comforts  of  the  Holy  Ghost 
consists  in  the  foretastes,  which  he  here  gives  beiievers, 
oixhejoys  of  heaven.    The  apostle,  after  informing  us, 
that  eye  haih  not  seen,  nor  ear  heard,  nor  the  heart  of 
man  conceived  of  those  things  which  God  has  prepared 
for  them  that  love  him,  adds, — but  God  hath  revealed 
them  unto  us  by  his  Spirit.    Of  the  truth  of  this  asser- 
tion every  Christian,  who  walks  in  the  fear  of  God,  is 
convinced  by  happy  experience.    Like  the  blessed  in- 
habitants of  heaven,  such  persons  are  enabled  by  the 
Holy  Spirit,  to  enjoy  fellowship  with  the  Father,  and 
with  his  Son  Jesus  Christ,  to  participate  in  the  joy  that 
is  felt  in  heaven  when  sinners  repent,  and  to  unite 
with  the  spirits  of  the  just  made  perfect  in  ascribing 
blessing  and  glory,  and  power  unto  God  and  the  Lamb. 
At  intervals,  which  return  more  or  less  frequently,  in 
proportion  to  their  diligence,  zeal,  and  fidelity,  God  is 
pleased  to  grant  them  still  greater  consolation  to  lift  upon 
them  the  light  of  his  countenance,  and  cause  them  to  re- 
joice in  his  salvation.    He  sheds  abroad  his  love  in  their 
hearts,  makes  them  to  know  the  great  love  wherewith  he 
has  loved  them,  shines  in  upon  their  souls  with  the  pure, 
dazzling,  transforming  beams  of  celestial  mercy,  truth, 
and  grace  ;  displays  to  their  enraptured  view  the  ineffa- 
ble bead  ties  and  glories  of  him  who  is  the  chief  among 
ten  -thousand,  and  enables  them  in  some  measure  to  com- 
prehend the  lengths  and  breadths,  the  heights  and  depths 
of  that  love  of  Christ  which  passeth  knowledge.  While 
the  happy  Christian,  in  these  bright  enraptured  moments, 
sinks  lower  and  lower  in  self-abasement  and  humility, 
the  Spirit  of  .God,  stooping  from  his  blest  abode,  raises 
him  as  it  were  on  his  celestial  wings,  and  places  him  be- 
fore the  open  door  of  heaven,  and  enables  him  to  look 
in,  and  contemplate  the  great  I  AM,  the  Ancient  of  days, 
enthroned  with  the  Son  of  his  love,  the  brightness  of  his 
glory.    He  contemplates,  he  wonders,  he  admires,  he 
loves,  he  adores.    Absorbed  in  the  ravishing  the  ecstatic 


THE   CHURCHES  INCREASED. 


2G7 


contemplation  of  uncreated  loveliness,  glory,  and  beauty, 
he  forgets  the  world,  he  forgets  himself,  he-* almost  for- 
gets that  he  exists.  His  whole  soul  goes  forth  in  one 
intense  flame  of  admiration,  love  and  desire,  and  he  longs 
to  plunge  into  the  boundless  ocean  of  perfection  which 
opens  to  his  view,  and  to  be  wholly  swallowed  up  and 
lost  in  God.  With  an  energy  and  activity  of  soul  un- 
known before,  he  roams  and  ranges  through  this  infinite 
ocean  of  existence  and  happiness,  of  perfection  and 
glory,  of  power  and  wisdom,  of  light  and  love,  where  he 
can  find  neither  bottom  nor  shore.  His  soul  dilates 
itself  beyond  its  ordinary  capacity,  and  expands  to  re- 
ceive the  tide  of  felicity  which  fills  and  overwhelms  it. 
No  language  can  do  justice  to  his  feelings,  for  his  joys 
are  unspeakable  ;  but  with  an  emphasis,  a  meaning,  an 
energy,  which  God  only  could  excite,  and  which  God 
alone  can  comprehend^  he  exclaims  in  broken  accents, 
My  Father,  and  my  God  !  Thus  by  the  agency  of  the 
Spirit  is  he  filled  with  all  the  fulness  of  God,  and  rejoices 
with  joy  unspeakable  and  full  of  glory,  till  his  wise  and 
compassionate  Father,  in  condescension  to  the  weakness 
of  his  almost  expiring  child,  graciously  draws  a  veil  over 
glories  too  dazzling  for  mortal  eyes  long  to  sustain  ; 
leaving  him  still  however'  in  the  enjoyment  of  that  peace 
of  God  which-  passeth  all  understanding.  Such,  my 
friends,  are  the  joys  which  the  Spirit  of  God  occasion- 
ally imparts  to  those  who  walk  in  his  fear  ;  or  rather 
such  is  the  exceedingly  imperfect  description  of  them 
which  we  are  able  to  give. 

Having  thus  attempted  to  show  what  is  meant  by 
wakling  in  the  fear  o(  God  and  in  the  comforts  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  I  proceed  to  show, 

III.  That  when  the  members  of  churches  habitually 
walk  in  this  manner,  great  additions  will  probably  be 
made  to  them  of  such  as  shall  be  saved.  That  this  will 
be  the  case  appears  probable, 

1.  From  the  consideration,  that  such  a  life  and  tem- 
per, displayed  by  professed  Christians,  will  naturally  and 


268 


THE  CHURCHES  INCREASE!*. 


most  powerfully  tend  to  convince  all  around  them  of  the 
reality  and  happy  effects  of  religion,  to  remove  their  pre- 
judices against  it,  and  to  show  them  that  its  possession 
is  highly  desirable.    No  one  who  has  attended  to  the 
subject  can  doubt,  that,  if  we  except  the  natural  enmity 
of  the  heart  to  God,  the  manner  in  which  professors 
generally  live  is  the  greatest  of  all  obstacles  to  the  suc- 
cess of  the  gospel.    It  is  this  which  blunts  the  edge  of 
the  sword  of  the  Spirit,  and  causes  the  arrows  of  con- 
viction to  rebound  from  the  sinner's  breast.    It  is  in  vain 
to  press  on  our  impenitent  hearers  the  necessity  of  re- 
generation, while  they  see  little  or  no  difference  between 
those  who  profess  to  have  been  the  subjects  of  this 
change  and  themselves.    It  is  vain  to  tell  them  that  re- 
ligion is  productive  of  happiness,  while  professors  ap- 
pear gloomy,  anxious,  and  dejected,  instead  of  walking 
in  the  Comforts  of  the  Holy  Ghost.    But  when  profes- 
sors live  as  they  ought,  when  the  fear  of  God  rules  in  their 
hearts,  and  the  peace  of  God  beams  forth  in  their  coun- 
tenances ;  when  they  cause  their  light  to  shine  before 
men,  and  adorn  the  doctrine  of  God  in  all  things ;  then 
sinners  begin  to  tremble,  their  most  plausible  objection 
is  wrested  from  them  ;  their  armor  is  taken  away,  and 
they  are  exposed,  naked  and  defenceless,  to  the  arrows 
of  conviction.    The  life  of  every  Christian  then  becomes 
a  sermon  more  pungent  and  convincing  than  any  which 
ministers  can  preach  ;  and  the  church,  while  she  thus 
appears  fair  as  the  moon,  and  clear  as  the  sun,  is  more 
terrible  than  an  army  with  banners  to  the  enemies  of 
religion. 

2.  That  great  additions  will  be  made  to  churches 
which  walk  in  this  manner,  is  probable  from  the  con- 
sideration, that  walking  in  the  fear  of  God  and  in 
the  comfort  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  is  exceedingly  pleas- 
ing to  God,  and  naturally  tends  to  draw  down  upon 
them  his  blessing.  Indeed,  he  has  bound  himself  by 
many  promises  to  bless  and  build  up  his  church,  when 
its  members  conduct  in  this  manner  ;  and  in  no  instance, 
that  can  be  adduced,  has  he  failed  to  fulfil  these  prom- 


THE   CHURCHES  INCREASED.  269 

ises.  Them  that  honor  him  he  will  honor.  But  in  no 
way  can  churches  honor  him  more  effectually  than  by 
living  in  the  manner  described  above ;  and,  therefore, 
when  they  thus  honor  him,  they  may  expect  that  he 
will  honor  them  by  preserving  them  from  division,  and 
adding  abundantly  to  their  numbers  and  graces.  That 
this  will  probably  be  the  case,  appears, 

Lastly,  from  the  consideration  that,  when  churches 
walk  in  this  manner,  it  proves  that  God  is  pouring  out 
his  Spirit  upon  them,  and  that  a  revival  of  religion  is  al- 
ready begun.  That  without  the  influences  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  a  church  cannot  walk  in  his  comforts,  is  too  evi- 
dent to  require  proof ;  and  that  without  them  no  church 
will  walk  in  the  fear  of  God,  is  equally  certain.  Whenev- 
er we  see  a  church  walking  in  this  manner,  we  may  be 
confident  that  God  has  commenced  a  work  of  grace 
among  them,  and  there  is  every  reason  to  hope  that  this 
work  will  be  carried  on  till  many  are  added  to  the  church. 

The  subject  we  have  been  considering,  my  friends, 
suggests  several  important  reflections.  And, 

1.  Permit  me  to  ask  all  the  professed  disciples  of 
Christ  in  this  assembly,  whether  the  churches  which 
they  represent,  or  with  which  they  are  connected,  walk 
in  the  manner  which  has  now  been  described.  Have 
you  reason  to  believe  that  all,  or  nearly  all  your  mem- 
bers are  walking  in  the  fear  of  God,  and  in  the  comforts 
of  the  Holy  Ghost?  Are  the  churches  to  which  you 
belong,  diligent  and  faithful  in  the  performance  of  those 
duties  which  are  incumbent  on  them  as  a  body,  or  in 
their  collective  capacity  ?  Do,  they  all  consider  the 
stated  preaching  of  the  gospel  as  the  first  necessary  of 
life,  and  act  accordingly  ?  Is  proper  care  taken  to  se- 
cure the  religious  education  of  children  ?  Is  discipline 
faithfully  maintained,  according  to  the  rules  of  Christ's 
house  ?  Is  there  no  evil,  no  accursed .  thing  tolerated 
among  you  ?  Are  your  members  careful  not  to  forsake 
the  assembling  of  themselves  together,  as  the  manner  of 
some  is  ?  and  do  they  reprove,  exhort,  and  admonish 
each  other,  agreeably  to  the  commands  of  Christ,  and 
23* 


270 


THE  CHURCHES  INCREASED. 


their  own  covenant  obligations  ?  If  any  of  you  are  con- 
scious that  the  churches,  which  you  represent,  are  not 
walking  in  this  manner,  permit  me  to  ask, 

2.  How  far  is  this  melancholy  and  criminal  deficiency 
owing  to  yourselves  ?  From  the  fact,  that  your  church- 
es have  selected  you  to  represent  them  on  this  occa- 
sion, we  infer,  that  you  have  some  reputation  and  in- 
fluence among  them.  Now  have  you  done  every  thing, 
which  it  is  in  your  power  to  do,  to  persuade  and  induce 
your  brethren  to  walk  in  this  manner  ?  Are  you  walk- 
ing yourselves  in  this  manner  ?  If  the  Master,  whom 
you  profess  to  serve,  were  visibly  present,  would  he 
say  of  each  of  you,  This  man  does  walk  in  the  fear  of 
God,  and  in  the  comforts  of  the  Holy  Ghost  ?  If  not, 
can  you  say  how  for  the  declining  state  of  the  churches, 
which  you  represent,  is  imputable  to  yourselves,  or  how 
much,  or  how  soon,  their  state  might  be  improved  by 
your  example  and  exertions,  were  they  such  as  they 
ought  to  be  ? 

3.  Permit  me,  with  affectionate  earnestness,  to  press 
upon  every  professed  disciple  of  Christ  here  present, 
the  importance,  the  indispensable  necessity  of  walking 
himself,  and  of  doing  every  thing  in  his  power  to  induce 
his  brethren  to  walk,  in  the  manner  which  our  text  de- 
scribes. To  this  the  providence,  as  well  as  the  word 
of  God,  now  calls  us.  For  a  long  time  the  churches 
in  this  vicinity,  as  well  as  through  New  England,  have 
enjoyed  rest ;  rest,  probably,  much  more  undisturbed, 
and  privileges  far  greater,  than  were  ever  enjoyed  by 
the  primitive  Christians.  Indeed,  what  they  thought  a 
calm,  we  should  probably  consider  as  a  storm.  All 
they  wished  for  was,  to  be  exempted  from  the  spoiling 
of  their  goods,  from  bonds  and  imprisonment,  from  the 
stake  and  the  cross,  and  to  have  liberty  to  serve  God  in 
peace.  They  never  thought  of  requesting  an  ungodly 
world  to  assist  them  in  building  places  for  worship,  in 
supporting  the  gospel,  or  even  in  providing  for  their  poor. 
All  these  things  they  regarded  it  as  a  privilege,  as  well 
as  a  duty,  to  perform.    Could  they  have  been  placed  in 


THE  CHURCHES  INCREASED. 


271 


such  a  situation  as  we  are,  they  would  have  thought  it 
rest  indeed.  And  shall  we  then  abuse  the  goodness  of 
God,  and  ungratefully  requite  him  for  the  rest  which 
he  affords  us  by  neglecting  to  walk  in  his  fear,  and  prac- 
tically regarding  the  consolations  of  his  Spirit  as  a  light 
thing  ?  Shall  we  by  misimproving  a  calm,  provoke  him 
to  send  us  a  storm  ?  Shall  we,  by  declining  from  our 
first  love,  and  neglecting  to  repent,  constrain  him  to  re- 
move our  golden  candlesticks  out  of  their  places  ?  God 
forbid.  Let  us  all  rather  walk  ourselves,  and,  if  possi- 
ble, persuade  the  churches  with  which  we  are  connected 
to  walk  in  the  fear  of  the  Lord,  and  in  the  comforts*  of 
the  Holy  Ghost.  And  let  us  not  confine  our  exertions 
to  our  own  churches,  but  endeavor  to  make  this  county, 
at  least,  as  a  fruitful  field,  and  a  well  watered  garden. 
Let  those  who  are  of  us  build  the  old  wastes,  and  re- 
pair the  desolation  of  former  generations,  assured  that, 
if  we  water  others,  we  shall  in  turn  be  watered  our- 
selves. And  O,  that  every  member,  every  professor  of 
religion  present,  may  return  with  the  spirit  of  a  mission- 
ary, the  spirit  of  primitive  Christianity,  glowing  in  his 
breast,  and  that  his  example  and  influence  may  work 
like  leaven  till  all  around  him  are  leavened.  And  may 
God  in  mercy  say  to  these  churches,  From  this  day 
forth  will  I  bless  you. 

To  conclude ;  from  the  subject  before  us,  all  present 
may  learn  much  of  the  nature  of  true  religion,  and  in 
what  manner  to  distinguish  it  from  its  counterfeits.  It 
consists  in  walking  in  the  fear  of  God,  and  in  the  comfort 
of  the  Holy  Ghost.  These  two  things  God  has  joined, 
and  let  no  man  attempt  to  put  them  asunder.  He  who 
does  this,  and  teaches  men  to  do  it,  shall  be  called  least 
in  the  kingdom  of  heaven ;  that  is,  according  to  the 
Jewish  idiom,  shall  never  enter  it.  Beware  then,  my 
hearers,  of  making  this  separation  yourselves ;  beware 
of  all  who  attempt  to  make  it.  Wherever  you  hear  a 
man  speaking  loudly  of  his  religious  joys  and  consola- 
tions, while  he  does  not  exhibit  corresponding  evidence 
that  he  fears  God  ;  while  he  is  careless  in  his  conduct, 


272  THE  CHURCHES  INCREASED. 


vain  and  trifling  in  his  conversation,  and  irreverent  in  his 
manner  of  speaking  of  God  and  of  religious  subjects,  be 
assured  that  his  joy  is  only  that  of  the  hypocrite*  or  of 
the  stony  ground  hearer  which  shall  endure  but  for  a 
moment  \  and  be  not  surprised,  if  you  should  afterwards 
see  such  a  man  fall  away.  And  on  the  other  hand, 
when  you  hear  a  man  profess  to  fear  God,  while  he 
ridicules  or  denies  the  reality  of  the  comforts  of  the  Ho- 
ly Ghost,  be  assured  that  he  is  one  who,  while  he  has: 
the  form  of  godliness,  knows  nothing  of  its  power. 


SERMON  XIX. 

! 

Holiness  to  the  Lord, 


Z  ECHARIAH  XIV.  20,  21. 

IN  THAT  DAY  SHALL  THERE  BE  UPON  THE  BELLS  OF  THE  HORSES, 
HOLINESS  UNTO  THE  LORD  )  AND  THE  POTS  IN  THE  LORD'S  HOUSE 
SHALL  BE  LIKE  THE  BOWLS  BEFORE  THE  ALTAR.  YEA,  EVERY 
POT  IN  JERUSALEM  AND  IN  JUDAH  SHALL  BE  HOLINESS  UNTO  THE 
LORD  OF  HOSTS  J  AND  ALL  THEY  THAT  SACRIFICE  SHALL  COME  AND 
TAKE  OF  THEM,  AND  SEETHE  THEREIN  J  AND  IN  THAT  DAY  THERE 
SHALL  BE  NO  MORE  THE  CANAANITE  IN  THE  HOUSE  OF  THE  LORD 
OF  HOSTS. 

You  need  not  be  told,  my  friends,  that  the  prophets 
and  apostles  often  speak  of  a  glorious  day,  which  is  to 
dawn  upon  the  church  in  the  latter  ages  of  the  world. 
Respecting  this  glorious  day  two  things  are  predicted  in 
the  chapter  before  us.  In  the  first  place,  we  are  told 
that  the  true  religion  shall  then  universally  prevail.  In 
that  day  the  Lord  shall  be  king  over  all  the  earth  ;  and 
there  shall  be  one  Lord  and  his  name  one.  In  the  sec- 
ond place,  it  is  predicted  that  Christians  shall  make  much 
greater  attainments  in  religion,  and  that  its  sanctifying 
influence  shall  pervade  all  the  common  concerns  and 
employments  of  life  In  that  day  shall  there  be  upon 
the  bells  of  the  horses,  holiness  unto  the  lord  ;  and 
the  pots  in  the  Lord's  house  shall  be  like  the  bowls  be- 
fore the  altar ;  yea,  every  vessel  in  Jerusalem  and  in 
Judah  shall  be  holiness  unto  the  Lord  of  Hosts  ;  and  all 
they  that  sacrifice  shall  come  and  take  of  them  and  seethe 
therein.  To  show  more  particularly  what  these  prophet- 


274 


HOLINESS  TO  THE  LORD 


ic  expressions  imply,  and  what  will  be  the  state  of  the 
world  when  they  are  fulfilled,  is  my  present  design. 

1.  These  expressions  imply  that,  when  the  day  here 
predicted  arrives,  all  the  common  business,  employ- 
ments, and  actions  of  men  shall  be  performed  with  as 
much  seriousness  and  devotion  to  God,  as  the  most  pious 
Christians  now  feel  when  engaged  in  the  most  solemn 
duties  of  religion.  Upon  the  very  bells,  or  as  the  word 
sometimes  signifies,  upon  the  harness  of  the  horses,  and 
upon  all  the  vessels  which  are  employed  for  domestic 
purposes,  shall  be  inscribed  holiness  to  the  Lord.  In 
this  passage  a  part  is  by  a  common  figure  of  speech  put 
for  the  whole.  A  great  part  of  the  common  business  of 
life  is  carried  on  by  the  help  of  those  domesticated  ani- 
mals whom  God  has  appointed  to  be  the  servants  of  man. 
They  are  our  companions  and  assistants  in  almost  all  our 
labors.  We  employ  them  in  cultivating  the  ground,  in 
carrying  home  its  produce,  in  the  removal  of  all  heavy 
bodies,  in  the  erection  of  our  habitations,  in  conveying 
us  from  place  to  place,  and  for  various  other  purposes 
which  it  is  needless  to  particularize  ;  nor  do  we  unfre- 
quently  make  use  of  them  for  purposes  of  relaxation  and 
amusement.  And  while  the  labors  of  men  abroad  are 
principally  carried  on  by  the  assistance  of  these  animals, 
the  female  sex  at  home  are  no  less  occupied  with  the 
various  utensils  which  the  ingenuity  of  man  has  contriv- 
ed for  the  convenience  of  civilized  domestic  life.  By 
the  bells  of  the  horses,  therefore,  is  here  meant,  all  the 
business  of  life  in  which  men  are  engaged  abroad  ;  and 
by  the  cups  or  vessels,  all  the  employments  which  occu- 
py the  female  sex  at  home.  Upon  all  these,  upon  all 
the  daily  employments  of  both  sexes  shall  be  inscribed, 
holiness  to  the  Lord. 

That  we  may  understand  the  import  of  this  express- 
ion, it  is  necessary  to  recollect  that,  when  the  Jewish 
high  priest  was  engaged  in  the  duties  of  his  sacred  office, 
and  especially  when  he  went  into  the  Holy  of  holies  to 
burn  incense,  he  was  commanded  to  wear  upon  his  fore- 
head a  mitre  with  the  words,  Holiness  to  the  Lord,  en- 


HOLINESS  TO   THE  LORD. 


275 


graven  upon  it  in  letters  of  gold.  By  this  inscription 
both  the  high  priest  himself,  and  all  who  read  it,  were 
forcibly  reminded,  that  the  God  whom  he  served  was  a 
holy  God,  and  that  holiness  becomes  his  house,  his  ser- 
vice, and  his  worshippers  forever.  If  he  ever  felt  serious 
and  devout,  it  would  be  when  he  wore  this  inscription 
upon  his  forehead.  But  in  the  day  of  which  we  are 
speaking  this  sacred  inscription  shall  be  upon  the  harness 
of  the  horses,  and  upon  the  utensils  employed  in  domes- 
tic life  ;  that  is,  as  we  have  already  observed,  upon  all 
the  daily  business,  and  employments  of  both  sexes.  We 
are  not,  however,  to  suppose  that  the  letters  which  com- 
pose these  words  are  actually  to  be  written  there.  The 
meaning  of  this  prediction  evidently  is,  that,  while  per- 
sons are  engaged  in  all  the  common  business  and  con- 
cerns of  life,  whether  at  home  or  abroad,  whether  in  the 
house  or  by  the  way,  they  shall  feel  as  serious,  as  devout, 
as  much  engagedin  the  service  of  God,  as  did  the  Jew- 
ish high  priest,  when  he  wore  that  sacred  inscription  up- 
on his  forehead.  The  merchant  at  his  desk,  the  me- 
chanic in  his  shop,  the  mariner  in  his  vessel,  the  hus- 
bandman in  his  field,  the  traveller  on  his  journey,  and 
the  female  at  home,  shall  have  such  a  constant  realizing 
sense  of  the  presence  and  perfections  of  God,  and  such 
love,  confidence,  and  reverence  in  exercise  towards  him, 
as  will  lead  them  to  do  every  thing  in  a  holy  manner  and 
with  a  view  to  his  glory.  Every  thing  will  then  be  sanc- 
tified Jby  the  word  of  God  and  prayer.  Religion  will 
then  not  be  confined,  as  it  too  often  is  now,  to  the  closet 
and  the  house  of  God  ;  but  she  will  walk  abroad,  per- 
vading every  place  with  her  blessed  influence,  and  cheer- 
ing happy  man  in  all  his  employments  with  her  heavenly 
smiles  and  heart-enlivening  consolations.  Men  wilLthen 
labor  as  Adam  did  in  paradise,  where  labor  was  rest, 
and  employment,  and  pleasure  Friends  and  acquain- 
tances will  then  meet,  as  Christians  now  meet,  to  serve 
and  praise  God  ;  every  meeting  will  be  a  religious  meet- 
ing ;  men  will  then  speak  of  the  things  of  God,  as  the 
Jews  were  commanded  to  do,  in  the  house  and  by  the 


276 


HOLINESS  TO  THE  LORD. 


way,  when  they  sit  down  and  when  they  rise  up,  and  con- 
versation on  earth  will  be  like  the  converse  of  saints  and 
angels  in  heaven. 

Then  there  will  be  no  idle  or  profane  language,  no 
evil  speaking  or  slander  heard  ;  for  the  law  of  love  will 
be  in  the  heart,  and,  of  course,  the  law  of  kindness  will 
dwell  on  ihe  lips.  Then  too,  the  press,  as  well  as  the 
tongue,  will  be  sanctified.  As  men  will  learn  war,  so 
the  press  will  tell  of  war,  no  more  ;  but  periodical  pub- 
lications will  then  spread  abroad  the  politics,  the  laws, 
and  the  triumphs  of  the  Redeemer's  kingdom.  Books 
will  no  longer  contain  poison  for  the  soul,  or  fuel  for 
hateful  passions  ;  but  be  streams  flowing  from  the  foun- 
tains of  life  and  truth.  Then  too,  all  the  domestic  re- 
lations will  be  sanctified.  Husbands  and  wives,  parents 
and  children,  brothers  and  sisters,  masters  and  servants, 
will  then  love  one  another  out  of  a  pure  heart  fervently, 
as  members  of  the  same  body,  and  fellow  heirs  of  the 
same  heaven.  The  heart  which  says  to  God,  our  Fa- 
ther in  heaven,  will  of  course  consider  men  as  brethren 
upon  earth.  Man  will  then  never  meet  an  enemy  in  man, 
but  a  friend,  and,  what  is  more,  a  Christian  friend. 
But  time  forbids  us  to  enlarge.  Suffice  it  to  say,  that  all 
the  common  affairs  of  life  will  then  be  performed  better 
than  the  most  sacred  religious  duties  now  are.  Thus 
every  thing  will  be  turned  to  gold.  Some  faint  traces 
of  such  a  state  of  things,  faint  however  indeed,  we  find 
in  the  better  ages  of  the  Jewish  commonwealth.  For 
instance,  when  Boaz  visited  his  reapers  in  the  field,  we 
find  him  saying  to  them,  The  Lord  be  with  you  ;  while 
they  replied  to  him,  The  Lord  bless  thee.  Such  will  be 
the  language  universally  heard  in  the  day  of  which  we 
are  speaking;  and  however  nauseous  and  disgusting 
such  expressions  may  seem,  when  considered  as  the  cant 
of  formality  and  hypocrisy,  which  speaks  without  feeling, 
they  appear  very  different,  viewed  as  the  real  language 
of  the  heart.  Some  such  expressions  are  in  common 
use  among  ourselves,  though  the  real  meaning  is  un- 
known, or  forgotten,  by  thousands  who  adopt  them. 


HOLINESS  TO  THE  LORD. 


277 


The  term,  Adieu,  for  instance,  signifies,  I  commend 
you  to^God  ;  and  even  the  common  expression,  Good 
bye,  is  an  abbreviation  or  corruption  of  the  pious  wish. 
God  be  with  you.  We  mention  these  instances  merely 
to  shew  how  the  influence  of  religion  will  pervade  even 
the  common  forms  and  ceremonies  of  society,  in  the 
day  of  which  we  are  speaking. 

2.  In  that  day,  every  house,  every  shop,  and  the 
whole  world  itself,  will  be  a  house  of  God,  a  temple 
consecrated  to  his  praise.  A  temple  is  a  place  conse- 
crated and  devoted  to  God  for  religious  purposes.  But 
in  that  day  every  house  will  be  such  a  place ;  every 
man  will  be  a  priest  in  his  house,  to  offer  up  spiritual 
sacrifices  of  prayer  and  praise,  and  to  teach  his  children 
and  domestics  the  right  knowledge  of  God  ;  and  every 
domestic  employment  will  be  attended  to,  with  such 
devotional  feelings  and  exercises  as  are  now  felt  by  pi- 
ous Christians  in  the  house  of  God.  Wherever  smoke 
ascends  to  heaven  from  the  habitations  of  man,  there  the 
incense  of  prayer  and  praise  will  ascend  with  it,  as  the 
prayers  of  the  Jews  ascended  with  the  smoke  of  their 
burnt  offerings. 

In  that  day,  every  building  erected  for  the  purpose  of 
labor  or  merchandise  will  be  such  a  place ;  for  every 
man  will  consecrate  his  labors  and  his  gains  to  God,  and 
present  himself  as  a  living  sacrifice,  holy  and  acceptable 
to  God,  to  be  employed  in  his  work.  Then  every  ves- 
sel will  be  such  a  place,  in  which  those  that  see  God's 
works  in  the  deep  shall  praise  him  for  the  greatness  of 
his  power  ;  in  which  prayers  and  thanksgivings  will  take 
the  place  of  those  oaths  and  Curses  by  which  they  are 
now  but  too  often  profaned.  Then  the  whole  earth 
shall  be  such  a  place  ;  for  it  shall  be  full  of  the  know- 
ledge of  God,  as  the  waters  cover  the  seas ;  and  nei- 
ther the  sun  by  day,  nor  the  moon  and  stars  by  night, 
when  they  look  down  upon  the  earth,  shall  behold  any 
thing  transacted  on  its  surface  which  is  not  done  to  God's 
glory,  which  is  not  a  duty  of  religion.  Then  all  the 
race  of  men  will  unite  with  the  inanimate  creation,  in 
24 


278 


HOLINESS  TO  THE  LORD. 


celebrating  the  high  praises  of  God,  making  sweet  mel-~ 
ody  in  their  hearts  unto  the  Lord. 

3.  Every  day  will  then  be  like  a  Sabbath.  This 
day  is  now  separated  from  the  days  of  labor,  for  devo- 
tional purposes,  and  the  more  solemn  performance  of 
religious  duties.  But  when  every  house  shall  become 
a  temple,  when  every  thing  shall  be  done  in  a  devotional 
manner,  when  tdl  our  daily  actions  shall  be  performed 
with  more  love  and  zeal  than  our  religious  duties  are 
dow  ;  then,  it  is  evident,  every  day  will  be  like  a  Sab- 
bath and  much  more  holy,  than  our  best  Sabbaths  are 
now.  All  our  time  will  then  be  given  to  God,  and  a 
continual  Sabbath  on  earth  will  be  at  once  an  earnest, 
and  a  preparation  for  an  eternal  Sabbath  in  heaven. 

4.  In  that  day,  every  common  meal  will  be  what  the 
Lord's  supper  is  now.    This  is  evidently  implied  in  an 

_  expression  of  the  prophet  in  our  text.  After  informing 
us,  that  every  vessel  in  Jerusalem  and  in  Judah  shall  be 
holiness  to  the  Lord,  he  adds,  and  all  they  that  sacrifice 
shall  come  and  take  of  them,  and  seethe  therein.  You 
need  not  to  be  told  that,  under  the  Jewish  dispensation, 
all  the  vessels  and  utensils  employed  in  sacrificing  to 
God,  were  solemnly  consecrated  to  this  service,  and 
considered  as  holy  ;  and  if  any  man  presumed  to  use  ei- 
ther common  fire,  or  any  other  vessels,  in  offering  sacri- 
fice to  God,  be  was  instantly  struck  dead  for  his  pre- 
sumption. But  it  is  foretold  that,  in  the  day  of  which 
we  are  speaking,  men  shall  take  the  common  vessels 
which  are  employed  for  domestic  purposes,  and  use  them 
for  sacrifice  ;  and  this  intimates,  that  all  these  vessels 
shall  then  be  as  holy  as  the  vessels  of  the  sanctuary 
which  had  been  solemnly  consecrated  to  the  service  of 
God  ;  or,  to  use  language  more  suited  to  the  dispensa- 
tion under  which  we  live,  every  vessel  shall  be  like  the 
sacramental  vessels,  and  every  table  like  the  Lord's  ta- 
ble. Now  when  this  shall  be  the  case,  when  every  day 
shall  be  like  a  Sabbath,  when  every  house  shall  be  like 
a  temple,  when  every  man  shall  be  like  a  minister  in 
his  own  house,  and  all  the  domestic  utensils  holy,  then,  of 


HOLINESS  TO  THE  LORD. 


279 


course,  every  common  meal  will  be  like  the  Lord's 
supper.  Persons  will  then  partake  of  every  refresh- 
ment with  as  much  gratitude  and  love  to  Christ,  and  with 
as  feeling  a  remembrance  of  his  dying  love,  as  the  most 
pious  Christians  now  feel  at  his  table  ;  and  when  per^ 
sons  invite  each  other  to  a  feast,  it  will  be  like  the  sol- 
emn meeting  of  a  church  to  commemorate  their  Sa- 
viour's death.  In  a  word,  whether  men  eat,  or  drink, 
or  whatever  they  do,  they  will  then  do  all  to  the  glory 
of  God,  and  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

5.  Though  every  place  and  every  employment  will 
then  be  holy,  and  every  day  like  a  Sabbath,  yet  the  dis- 
tinction which  now  prevails  between  the  house  of  God 
and  other  places,  and  between  the  Sabbath  and  other 
days,  will  still  be  kept  up.  This  is  plainly  intimated  in 
another  part  of  our  text,<  where  we  are  told,  that  the 
pots  in  the  Lord's  house  shall  be  like  the  bowls  before 
the  altar.  Though  all  the  vessels  of  the  sanctuary  were 
holy,  yet  some  of  them  were  considered  as  much  more 
so  than  others.  The  bowls  before  the  altar,  for  in- 
stance, which  were  employed  to  contain  the  holy  in- 
cense, or  to  receive  the  blood  of  sacrifices,  were  consid- 
ered as  more  holy  than  the  pots  or  jars  which  received 
the  ashes  and  other  substances  which  were  to  be  carried 
away,  because  they  were  put  to  a  more  .sacred  use. 
The  meaning  of  this  expression,  then,  evidently  is,  that 
those  things,  which  are  now  considered  as  holy,  shall, 
in  the  day  of  which  we  are  speaking,  be  much  more  so. 
The  Sabbath  shall  be  far  more  strictly  observed  ;  the 
worship  of  God  performed  in  a  much  more  solemn  man- 
ner ;  the  temple  of  God  frequented  with  far  greater  se- 
riousness and  devotion,  than  is,  at  present,  the  case  ; 
and  thus  the  difference  between  the  house  of  God  and 
other  places,  between  the  Sabbath  and  other  days,  and 
between  the  worship  of  God,  and  other  employments, 
will  still  be  as  great,  as  it  is  now.  The  influence  of 
religion  will  be  felt  in  every  pl;;ce,  and  in  every  em- 
ployment 5  but  it  will  still  be  felt  most  powerfully,  as  it 


280  /         HOLINESS  TO  THE  LORD. 

is  now,  at  those  times  and  in  those  places,  which  are 
especially  set  apart  for  devotional  purposes. 

Lastly  ;  when  this  day  arrives,  there  will  be  no  insin- 
cere worshippers  found  in  God's  house,  no  hypocritical 
professors  in  his  church  ;  for  our  text  assures  us,  that 
then  there  shall  no  more  be  the  Canaanite  in  the  house 
of  the  Lord.  The  hypocritical  Jews  were  called  Ca- 
naanites,  because,  like  those  idolaters,  they  worshipped 
false  gods,  though  they  professed  to  worship  none  but 
the  true.  When  therefore  it  is  said,  There  shall  be  no 
more  the  Canaanite  in  the  house  of  the  Lord,  the  mean- 
ing is  that  there  shall  be  no  formal,  insincere  worship- 
pers in  the  house  or  church  of  God.  Then  the  whole 
congregation  shall  compose  the  church,  and  the  church 
shall  include,  none  but  the  real  discip\es  of  Christ. 
Agreeably,  we  find  the  prophet  Isaiah  thus  addressing 
the  church  by  the  name  of  Jerusalem,  Rejoice,  O  Jeru- 
salem, the  holy  city  ;  for  from  henceforth  there  shall  no 
more  come  m  to  thee,  the  uncircumcised  and  the  un- 
clean. 

Thus,  my  friends,  have  I  considered  the  expressions 
which  compose  our  text,  and  endeavored  to  show  what 
they  imply.  I  am  aware,  that  the  picture  which  has 
been  drawn  will  appear  to  many  of  you  visionary  and 
exaggerated,  and  you  will  say,  at  once,  that  it  can  never 
be  realized.  And  yet,  my  friends,  we  have  said  nothing 
more  than  the  word  of  God  commands,  nothing  more 
than  every  professor  of  Christianity  is  commanded  to 
seek,  nothing  more  than  he  promises  to  aim  at.  We 
are  commanded,  and  Christians  promise,  to  strive  to  be 
holy,  as  God  is  holy,  to  do  every  thing  in  word  and  deed 
in  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  and  whether  they  eat  or 
drink,  or  whatever  they  do,  to  do  all  to  the  glory  of  God. 
They  are  commanded  to  adorn  the  doctrine  of  God  their 
Saviour  in  all  things ;  to  be  in  the  fear  of  the  Lord  all 
the  day  long  ;  to  pray  without  ceasing  ;  to  set  the  Lord 
ever  before  them  ;  and  even  servants  are  expressly  re- 
quired to  do  whatever  they  do  heartily,  as  unto  the  Lord 
and  not  unto  men,  knowing  that  they  serve  the  Lord 


HOLINESS  TO  THE  LORD. 


281 


Christ.  And,  my  friends,  the  influence  of  religion 
naturally  leads  to  all  this,  and  nothing  more  is  necessa- 
ry to  produce  just  such  a  state  of  things  as  we  have  de- 
scribed, than  a  proper  degree  of  faith  in  the  word  of 
God.  If  all  men  had  that  *  faith,  God  and  Christ  and 
heaven  and  hell  would,  at  all  times,  be  realities  to  their 
minds ;  and,  of  course,  affect  them  as  such  realities 
ought  to  do.  Men  would  then  see  God  every  where,  in 
all  his  works  ;  they  would  see  from  what  Christ  had  re- 
deemed them  ;  and,  of  course,  their  reverence,  and 
gratitude,  and  love  would  be  always  in  fervent  and  live- 
ly exercise.  I  believe  no  person  will  doubt  that,  if  all 
men  were  such  Christians  as  St.  Paul  was,  a  great  part, 
if  not  all  that  has  now  been  said,  would  be  witnessed 
among  us.  And  it  becomes  us  to  remember  that  God 
can  give  all  men  as  much  grace  as  he  gave  Paul  ;  and 
he  has  said  that  he  will  bring  all  this  to  pa,ss  ;  and  there- 
fore he  will.  Is,  any  thing  too  hard  for  God  ?  Hath  he 
said,  and  shall  he  not  do  it? 

APPLICATION. 

1;.  From  this  subject,  my  Christian  friends,  we  may 
learn  our  great  and  innumerable  deficiences,  and  how 
wretchedly  we  live,  in  comparison  with  the  manner  in 
which  we  ought  to  live.  If  it  is  the  natural  tendency  of 
religion  to  produce  such  a  state  of  things  as  has  now 
been  described,  then  it  is  evident  that  the  best  of  us 
scarcely  yet  know  what  religion  is.  And  who  of  you 
will  say,  that  this  is  not  the  natural  tendency  of  religion  ? 
Did  not  Christ  give  himself  for  us,  that  he  might  redeem 
us  uoto  himself,  a  peculiar  people,  zealous  of  good 
works  ?  Does  not  the  Bible  tell  us  that  Christians  are  a 
:  chosen  generation,  a  royal  priesthood,  to  show  forth  his 
praise  ?  And  will  you  pretend  that  the  motives  set 
before  us  in  the  Bible  ought  not  to  produce  such 
effects  as  have  now  been  described  ?  The  dying  love 
of  Christ,  the  deliverance  from  eternal  misery,  ever- 
lasting happiness,  not  to  mention  the  great  increase  ot 
happiness  such  a  life  would  produce  in  the  present  world, 
24* 


282 


HOLINESS  TO  THE  LORD. 


Surely  these  motives  are  sufficient,  if  we  did  but  feel 
their  force,  to  lead  us  to  live  as  has  now  been  described. 
And  will  any  of  you  then  complain,  because  we  think 
the  church  are  but  little  engaged  ?  <f  Will  you  wonder  at 
us  and  blame  us,  because  we  think  it  necessary  to  urge 
you  to  be  more  zealously  affected  in  the  pursuit  of  re- 
ligion ?  You  may  indeed  justly  blame  us  for  not  living 
more  in  this  manner  ourselves,  and  say,  Physician,  heal 
thyself.  My  friends,  permit  us,  while  we  confess  our 
innumerable  deficiencies  publicly  to  declare  unto  you, 
that  we  intend,  by  .-the  grace  of  God,  to  make  at  least  an 
effort  to  come  nearer  the  standard  which  we  have  now 
described.  You  may  do  what  you  please,  but,  as  for 
me  and  for  my  house,  we  will  endeavor  thus  to  serve 
the  Lord.  And  who  is  willing  to  unite  with  us  in  making 
a  similar  attempt?  Who  of  you  will  endeavor  to  spend 
every  day,  as  a  Sabbath,  and  perform  every  act  to  the 
glory  of  God  ?  Remember  that  we  have  now  great  en- 
couragement to  do  this.  A  good  work,  a  blessed  change 
has  evidently  begun.  Time  was  when  magazines,  news- 
papers, and  works  of  fiction  were,  to  say  the  least,  far 
from  being  religious  in  their  tendency.  But  now  upon 
many  of  them  Holiness  to  the  Lord  is  inscribed. 

But  perhaps  some,  who  would  willingly  engage  in  this 
attempt,  have  been  so  much  discouraged,  and  led  to  en- 
tertain so  many  doubts  of  their  state,  by  what  has  been 
said,  that  they  have  no  courage  to  attempt  any  thing.  *  * 

2.  We  may  learn  from  this  subject  whether  we  have 
any  religion  or  not.  Should  we  rejoice  in  such  a  state 
of  things  as  has  now  been  described  ?  If  we  should,  we 
are  Christians,  for  no  unholy  heart  could  be  happy  in 
such  a  worlM  as  this  would  be,  did  religion  thus  univer- 
sally prevail.  I  doubt  not  that  many  in  this  assembly 
have  felt,  while  listening  to  this  discourse,  that  such  a 
gjtate  of  things,  as  we  have  described,  would  be  a  most 
melancholy  state  to  them  ;  they  have  felt  something  like 
gloom  overspread  their  minds  at  the  very  thoughts  of  it ; 
and  not  for4he  world  would  they  see  it  realized,  unless 
their  own  feelings  should  be  altered  in  a  corresponding 


HOLINESS  TO  THE  LORD* 


283 


manner.  All,  therefore,  who  would  heartily  rejoice  to 
see  religion  thus  generally  prevail ;  all  who  feel  that  such 
a  state  of  society  is  just  what  they  would  desire  to  ren- 
der them  happy  ;  all  who  are  wishing  and  praying  for  its 
arrival,  are  certainly  Christians,  and  have  every  encour- 
agement to  press  forward  to  perfection. 

Lastly ;  from  this  subject  we  may  learn  what  pleasures, 
pursuits,  and  employments  are  really  lawful  and  pleasing 
to  God.  Every  kind  of  amusement  which  would  pre- 
vail, every  object  of  pursuit  that  would  be  followed,  every 
kind  of  employment  which  would  afford  a  man  subsist-  * 
ence  in  such  a  state  of  society  as  we  have  described,  is 
lawful  and  consistent  with  religion.  But  if  there  be  any 
pleasures,  pursuits,  or  employments,  which  such  a  uni- 
versal prevalence  of  religion  would  banish  from  society, 
it  is  certain  that  they  are  inconsistent  with  religion,  and 
therefore  that  they  cannot  be  pleasing  m  the  sight  of 
God.  It  is  also  morally  certain  that  every  thing,  which 
religion  would  banish,  directly  tends,  by  its  prevalence, 
to  banish,  or  at  least  to  oppose  religion.  Let  us  then 
be  careful  to  pursue  and  indulge  in  nothing,  which  is  in- 
consistent with  the  universal  spread  of  Christianity  ;  and 
while  we  do  this  we  shall  certainly  be  in  the  way  to 
heaven,  and  shall  bring  down  heaven  to  dwell  with  us  on 
earth. 


SERMON  XX. 

The  Guilt  and  Consequences  of  Parental  Unfaithful- 
ness. 

[A  Fast  Sermon.] 


1  SAMUEL  III.  13,  14. 

jfOR  I  HAVE  TOLD  HIM,  THAT  I  WILL  JUDGE  HIS  HOUSE  FOREVER,  FOR 
THE  INIQUITY  WHICH  HE  KNOWETH  :  BECAUSE  HIS  SONS  MADE" 
THEMSELVES  VILE,  AND  HE  RESTRAINED  THEM  NOT.  AND  THERE- 
FORE I  HAVE  SWORN  UNTO  THE  HOUSE  OF  ELI,  THAT  THE  INIQUI- 
TY OF  ELl'S  HOUSE  SHALL  NOT  BE  PURGED  WITH  SACRIFICE  IVOR 
OFFERING  FOREVER. 

These  words  compose  a  part  of  the  first  revelation 
which  was  made  by  God  to  his  prophet  Samuel.  This 
eminent  servant  of  Jehovah  was  directed  to  begin  his 
ministry  by  denouncing  God's  judgments  against  a  sin 
which,  it  seems,  was  but  too  common  then,  as  it  is  now  ; 
the  sin  of  neglecting  the  moral  and  religious  education 
of  children.  It  was  this  sin  which  drew  down  the  most 
awful  threatenings  upon  the  house  of  EH.  Eli  was  in 
many  respects  an  eminently  good  man;  but,  like  many 
other  good  men,  he  was  in  this  particular  grossly  defi- 
cient. His  sons  made  themselves  vile,  and  he  restrained 
them  not.  We  may  be  ready  to  think  this  a  small  and 
very  pardonable  offence;  but  God  thought  otherwise, 
and  he  made  Eli  to  know  that  he  did  so  in  a  most  awful 
manner.  Behold  the  days  come,  said  he,  when  I  will 
cut  off  thine  arm,  and  the  arm  of  thy  father's  house, 
that  there  shall  not  be  an  old  man  in  thine  house.  And 
the  man  of  thine,  whom  I  shall  not  cut  off,  shall  be  to 
consume  thine  eyes,  and  to  grieve  thine  heart  ;  and  all 
the  increase  of  thy  house  shall  die  in  the  flower  of  their 
age.    And  as  for  thy  two  sons,  they  shall  both  die  in  one 


THE   GUILT  AND  CONSEQUENCES  285 


day.  These  awful  threatenings,  addressed  to  Eli,  were  „ 
farther  confirmed  by  the  ministry  of  Samuel.  I  have 
told  Eli,  that  I  will  judge  his  house  forever,  for  the 
iniquity  which  he  knoweth ;  because  his  sons  made  them 
themselves  vile,  and  he  restrained  them  not.  Therefore 
have  I  sworn  unto  the  house  of  Eli,  that  the  iniquity  of 
his  house  shall  not  be  purged  with  sacrifice  nor  offering 
forever. 

It  may  perhaps  appear  strange  to  some  of  you,  my 
friends,  that  we  have  chosen  such  a  subject  as  this  for  a 
day  of  public  fasting  and  prayer.  But  we  are  not  with-  » 
out  hopes  that,  before  we  have  done  with  the  subject, 
you  will  be  convinced  that  we  could  not  have  chosen 
one  more  important,  nor  more  suitable  to  the  present  oc- 
casion. We  are  assembled  this  day  for  the  purpose  of 
humbling  ourselves  before  God,  for  our  personal  and 
national  sins,  and  praying  for  private  and  public  prosper- 
ity. Now  I  firmly  believe,  that  no  sin  is  more  preva- 
lent among  us,  more  provoking  to  God,  or  more  destruc- 
tive of  individual,  domestic,  and  national  happiness,  than 
that  to  which  we  propose  to  call  your  attention.  Could 
we  trace  the  public  and  private  evils,  which  infect  our 
otherwise  happy  country,  to  their  true  source,  I  doubt  not 
we  should  find  that  most  of  them  proceed  from  a  gener- 
al neglect  of  the  moral  and  religious  education  of  child- 
ren. And  if  our  civil  and  religious  institutions  should 
ever  be  subverted  ;  and  this  nation  should  share  the  fate 
of  many  other  once  flourishing  nations  of  the  earth,  our 
destruction,  like  that  of  the  house  of  Eli,  will  have  been 
occasioned  by  this  very  sin  ;  a  sin,  which  is  the  parent  of 
innumerable  other  sins,  and  which,  consequently,  directly 
tends  to  draw  down  upon  those  nations,  among  whom  it 
prevails,  the  judgments  of  offended  heaven.  Surely, 
then,  no  subject  can  be  more  important,  or  more  suited 
to  the  purposes  for  which  we  are  now  assembled. — In 
farther  discoursing  on  this  subject,  we  propose  to  con- 
sider the  sin  mentioned  in  our  text,  the  punishments  de- 
nounced on  those  who  are  guilty  of  it,  and  the  reasons 
why  this  sin  is  so  provoking  to  God,  as  it  evidently  is. 


28G 


THE  GUILT  AND  CONSEQUENCES 


I.  We  are  to  consider  the  sin  here  mentioned.  Eli's 
sons  made  themselves  vile,  and  he  restrained  them  not. 
It  is  not  said  that  he  set  them  a  bad  example.  It  is  evi- 
dent, on  the  contrary,  that  his  example  was  good.  Nor 
is  he  accused  of  neglecting  to  admonish  them  ;  for  we 
are  told  that  he  reproved  them  in  a  very  solemn  and  affec- 
tionate manner,  and  warned  them  of  the  danger  of  con- 
tinuing to  pursue  vicious  courses.  In  this  respect  he  was 
much  less  culpable  than  many  parents  at  the  present  day ; 
for  not  a  few  set  before  their  children  an  example  posi- 
tively bad ;  and  still  more  entirely  neglect  to  admonish 
and  reprove  them.  But  though  Eli  admonished,  he  did 
not  restrain  his  children.  He  did  not  employ  the  au- 
thority with  which  he  was  clothed,  as  a  parent,  to  prevent 
them  from  indulging  their  depraved  inclinations.  This 
is  the  only  sin  of  which  he  is  accused  ;  and  yet  this  was 
sufficient  to  bring  guilt  and  misery  upon  himself,  and  en- 
tail ruin  upon  his  posterity. 

Of  the  same  sin  those  parents  are  now  guilty,  who 
suffer  their  children  to  indulge,  without  restraint,  those 
sinful  propensities  to  which  childhood  and  youth  are 
but  too  subject ;  and  which,  when  indulged,  render 
them  vile  in  the  sight  of  God.  Among  the  practices 
which  thus  render  children  vile,  are  a  quarrelsome,  ma- 
licious disposition,  disregard  to  truth,  excessive  indul- 
gence of  their  appetites,  neglect  of  the  Bible  and  relig- 
ious institutions,  profanation  of  the  Sabbath,  profane, 
scurrilous,  or  indecent  language,  wilful  disobedience, 
associating  with  openly  vicious  company,  taking  the  pro- 
perty of  their  neighbors,  and  idleness  which  naturally 
leads  to  every  thing  bad.  From  all  these  practices  it  is 
in  the  power  of  parents  to  restrain  their  children  in  a 
very  considerable  degree,  if  they  employ  the  proper 
means  ;  at  least,  it  is  in  the  power  o(  all  to  make  the 
attempt,  and  to  persevere  in  it  so  long  as  children  re- 
main under  the  paternal  roof;  and  those  who  neglect  to 
do  this  ;  those  who  know,  or  who  might  know,  that 
their  children  are  beginning  to  practise  any  of  these  vi- 
ces, without  steadily  and  perseveringly  using  all  proper 


OF  PARENTAL  UNFAITHFULNESS 


287 


exertions,  to  restrain  and  correct  them,  are  guilty  of  the 
sin  mentioned  in  our  text.  Nor  will  a  few  occasional 
reproofs  and  admonitions,  given  to  children,  free  par- 
ents from  the  guilt  of  partaking  in  their  sins.  No,  they 
must  be  restrained  ;  restrained  with  a  mild  and  prudent, 
but  firm  and  steady  hand  ;  restrained  early,  while  they 
may  be  formed  to  habits  of  submission,  obedience,  and 
diligence  ;  and  the  reins  of  government  must  never,  for 
a  moment,  be  slackened,  much  less  given  up  into 
their  hands,  as  is  too  often  the  case.  Nor  will  even  this 
excuse  those  parents  who  neglect  family  religion,  and 
the  religious  instruction  of  their  children,  and  who  do 
not  frequently  pray  for  the  blessing  of  heaven  upon  their 
endeavors.  If  we  neglect  our  duty  to  our  heavenly  Fa- 
ther, we  surely  cannot  wonder  or  complain,  if  he  suffers 
our  children  to  neglect  their  duty  to  us ;  nor,  if  we  do  not 
ask  his  blessing,  have  we  any  reason  to  complain  should 
it  be  withheld.  In  this,  as  in  all  other  cases,  exertion 
without  prayer,  and  prayer  without  exertion  are  equally 
vain.  To  sum  up  all  in  a  word,  every  parent  who  is 
not  as  careful  of  the  morals,  as  he  is  of  the  health  of 
his  children  ;  every  one  who  takes  more  care  of  the 
literary,  than  of  the  moral  and  religious  education  of  his 
children,  is  certainly  guilty  of  the  sin  mentioned  in  our 
text.  How  much  more  criminal,  then,  are  those  par- 
ents who  set  before  their  children  an  irreligious,  or  vi- 
cious example  ;  who  join  with  the  great  enemy  of  their 
peace  in  tempting  them  to  sin,  and  thus,  instead  of  re- 
straining, inflame  and  strengthen  their  sinful  propensities* 
The  parent  who  starves  or  poisons  his  children,  is  in- 
nocent in  the  sight  of  God,  compared  with  one  who  thus 
entices  them  into  the  path  of  ruin. 

Having  thus  briefly  considered  the  sin,  mentioned  in 
onr  text,  I  proceed  to  notice, 

II.  The  punishments  denounced  against  those  who 
are  guilty  of  it.  It  will  soon  appear,  that  these  punish- 
ments, like  most  of  those  with  which  God  threatens  man- 
kind, are  the  natural  consequences  of  the  sin  against 
which  they  are  denounced. 


288  THE  GUILT  AND  CONSEQUENCES 


In  our  text  these  punishments  are  denounced  in  a 
general  way.  I  have  told  Eli,  that  I  will  judge  his  house 
forever,  for  the  iniquity  which  he  knoweth.  The  par- 
ticular judgments  here  alluded  to,  are  described  more  at 
large  in  the  preceding  chapter,  to  which  this  passage 
evidently  refers.    God  there  declares  to  Eli, 

1.  That  most  of  his  posterity  should  die  early,  and 
that  none  of  them  should  live  to  see  old  age.  The  in- 
crease of  thy  house,  says  he,  shall  die  in  the  flower  of 
their  age,  and  there  shall  not  be  an  old  man  in  thine 
house  forever.  Now  it  is  too  evident  to  require  proof, 
that  the  sin,  of  which  Eli  was  guilty,  naturally  tends  to 
produce  the  consequence  which  is  here  threatened  as  a 
punishment.  When  youth  are  permitted  to  make  them- 
selves vile,  without  restraint,  they  almost  inevitably  fall 
into  courses  which  tend  to  undermine  their  constitu- 
tions, and  shorten  their  days.  It  is  indeed  a  well  known 
fact  that,  in  populous  towns,  comparatively  few  live  to 
become  aged,  and  that  a  much  larger  proportion  of  man- 
kind, especially  of  the  male  sex  who  are  most  exposed 
to  the  influence  of  temptation,  die  in  the  flower  or  meri- 
dian of  their  days,  than  in  the  country  where  parental 
discipline  is  less  generally  neglected,  and  youth  are  un- 
der greater  restraints.  If  parents  wished  that  their  sons 
should  drag  out  a  short  life  of  debility  and  disease,  and 
die  before  they  reach  half  the  common  age  of  man,  they 
could  not  adopt  measures  better  calculated  to  produce 
this  effect,  than  to  cast  loose  the  reins  of  parental  author- 
ity, and  suffer  them  to  follow  their  own  inclinations,  and 
associate  with  vicious  companions  without  restraint. 
We  may,  therefore,  consider  the  premature  death  of 
ungoverned  children,  as  the  natural  consequence,  as 
well  as  the  usual  punishment,  of  parental  neglect. 

2.  In  the  second  place,  God  declares  to  Eli,  that  such 
of  his  children  as  were  spared  should  prove  a  grief  and 
vexation,  rather  than  a  comfort  to  him.  The  man  of 
thine,  whom  I  shall  not  cut  off,  shall  be  to  consume 
thine  eyes,  and  to  grieve  thine  heart.  How  terribly 
this  threatening  was  fulfilled  in  the  case  of  Eli,  you 


OF  PARENTAL  UNFAITHFULNESS.  289 

need  not  be  told.    Nor  was  it  less  terribly  fulfilled  in 
the  family  of  David.    Though  he  was  in  many  respects 
an  eminently  good  man,  yet  with  respect  to  the  govern- 
ment of  his  children  he  was  grossly  deficient.    We  are 
told  respecting  one  of  his  children,  that  his  father  had 
not  displeased  him  at  any  time,  saying,  Wherefore  hast 
thou  done  so  ?    We  may  then  conclude  that  he  was 
equally  culpable  in  his  treatment  of  his  other  children. 
And  what  was  the  consequence  ?    One  of  his  sons  com- 
mitted incest  with  his  sister,  and  was  in  revenge  bar- 
barously murdered  in  cool  blood  by  his  brother  Absalom. 
This  same  Absalom  afterwards  rebelled  against  his 
his  father,  compelled  him  to  fly  for  his  life,  and  was 
cut  off  by  a  violent  death  in  the  flower  of  his  age,  and 
in  the  midst  of  his  sins.    A  third  son  rebelled  against 
him  in  his  old  age,  and  endeavored  to  wrest  the  sceptre 
from  his  feeble  hands.    How  keen  were  the  sufferings 
which  this  conduct  of  his  children  occasioned,  we  may 
infer  from  his  bitter  lamentation  on  account  of  the  death 
of  Absalom.    O,  my  son,  my  son  Absalom  !  would  to 
God  I  had  died  for  thee,  my  son,  my  son  !    Well  there- 
fore might  it  be  said  of  him  that  his  children  were  to 
consume  his  eyes,  and  to  grieve  his  heart.    The  fact 
is,  this  part  of  the  threatened  punishment,  like  the  for- 
mer, is  the  natural  and  almost  inevitable  consequence  of 
the  sin,  against  which  it  is  denounced.  s  If  parents  in- 
dulge their  children  in  infancy  and  childhood,  and  do 
not  restrain  them  when  they  make  themselves  vile,  it  is 
almost  impossible  that  they  should  not  pursue  courses 
and  contract  habits,  which  will  render  them  as  bitterness 
to  their  fathers,  and  a  sorrow  of  heart  to  those  that  bore 
them.    If  such  parents  are  pious,  their  hearts  will  prob- 
ably be  grieved,  and  their  eyes  consumed  with  tears,  to 
see  their  children  rebelling  against  God,  and  plunging 
into  eternal  ruin.    If  they  are  not  pious,  and  care  no- 
thing for  the  future  happiness  of  their  children,  they  will 
still  probably  have  the  grief  of  seeing  them  idle,  disso- 
lute, undutiful,  bad  husbands,  bad  fathers,  and  bad  mem- 
bers of  society ;  for  it  can  scarcely  be  expected  that 
25 


290  THE  GUILT  AND  CONSEQUENCES 


he,  who  is  a  bad  son,  will  act  his  part  well  in  any  other 
relation  of  life.  Especially  will  such  parents  usually 
meet  with  unkindness  and  neglect  from  their  children, 
if  they  live  to  be  dependant  on  them  in  their  old  age. 
It  is  in  this,  as  in  almost  every  other  instance,  the  case 
that,  as  a  man  sows,  so  he  must  reap.  They  that  sow 
the  seeds  of  vice  in  the  minds  of  their  children,  or  who 
sutler  them  to  be  sown  by  others,  and  to  grow  without 
restraint,  will  almost  invariably  be  compelled  to  reap, 
and  to  eat  with  many  tears  the  bitter  harvest  which 
those  seeds  tend  to  produce. 

3.  In  the  third  place,  God  forewarns  Eli,  that  his 
posterity  should  be  poor  and  contemptible.  They  that 
despise  me,  says  he,  shall  be  lightly  esteemed ;  and  it 
shall  come  to  pass  that  every  one  that  is  left  in  thy  house 
shall  come  and  crouch  to  another  for  a  piece  of  silver 
and  a  morsel  of  bread.  Here  again  we  see  the  natural 
consequences  of  Eli's  sin  in  its  punishment.  Children, 
who  are  not  well  instructed  and  restrained  by  their  par- 
ents, will  almost  inevitably  in  such  a  place  as  this,  con- 
tract habits  of  idleness,  instability,  and  extravagance, 
which  naturally  lead  to  poverty  and  contempt.  Were 
we  well  acquainted  with  the  private  history  of  those  in- 
dividuals among  us,  who  are  idle,  intemperate,  unstable 
and  despised,  we  should  probably  find  that,  in  almost 
every  instance,  they  w7ere  the  children  of  parents  who 
neglected  to  restrain  them  when  they  made  themselves 
vile. 

Lastly  ;  God  declares  that  none  of  the  methods  thus 
appointed  to  obtain  the  pardon  of  sin,  should  avail  to 
procure  pardon  for  the  iniquity  of  his  house ;  I  have 
sworn  unto  Eli,  that  the  iniquity  of  his  house  shall  not 
be  purged  away  by  sacrifice  nor  offering  forever.  This 
awful  threatening  conveyed  a  plain  intimation  that  his 
children  should  die  in  their  sins ;  and,  of  course,  be 
miserable  forever.  This  too  was  the  natural  conse- 
quence of  his  conduct.  He  had  suffered  them  to  fol- 
low without  restraint  those  courses  which  rendered  them 
unfit  for  heaven,  until  their  day  of  grace  was  past,  and 


OF  PARENTAL  UNFAITHFULNESS  291 


the  door  of  mercy  forever  closed  against  them.  They 
were  now  given  up  to  a  hard  heart  and  reprobate  mindi 
They  could  not  now  be  brought  to  repentance  ;  and,  of 
course,  no  sacrifice  or  offering  could  purge  away  their 
sins.  My  friends,  it  is  still  the  same,  and  there  can  be 
no  room  to  doubt,  that  there  are  thousands  now  in  the 
regions  of  despair,  and  thousands  more  on  their  way  to 
join  them,  who  will  forever  curse  their  parents,  as  the 
authors  of  their  misery. 

My  friends,  the  terrible  punishments  denounced 
against  this  sin  sufficiently  shew  that  it  is  exceedingly 
displeasing  in  the  sight  of  God.  Let  us  then  inquire, 
as  was  proposed, 

III.  Why  it  is  so.  To  this  we  answer,  it  is  so, 
1.  Because  it  proceeds  from  very  wicked  and  hate- 
ful principles.  Actions  take  their  character  in  the  sight 
of  God  principally  from  the  motives  and  dispositions  in 
which  they  originate.  Now  there  is  scarcely  any  sin 
which  proceeds  from  worse  principles  and  more  hateful 
dispositions  than  this.  For  instance,  sometimes  it  pro- 
ceeds from  the  love  and  the  practice  of  vice.  Openly 
vicious  and  profligate  parents,  who  do  not  restrain 
themselves,  cannot,  of  course,  but  be  ashamed  to  re- 
strain their  children.  Such  parents,  whatever  their 
children  may  do,  dare  not  reprove  them,  lest  they  should 
hear  them  reply,  Physician,  heal  thyself.  In  other  in- 
stances, this  sin  is  occasioned  by  secret  impiety  and  in- 
fidelity. Those  who  live  without  God  in  the  world, 
who  think  his  power  of  no  consequence,  and  feel  not 
the  force  of  those  motives,  which  the  Scriptures  pre- 
sent to  us,  will  be  disposed  to  view  the  sins  of  their  child  - 
ren with  a  favorable  eye,  and  consider  them  as  merely 
the  common  foibles  of  youth,  which  require  little  cen- 
sure or  restraint,  and  which  they  will  soon  renounce  vol- 
untarily. Even  if  such  parents  sometimes  restrain  the 
grosser  vices  of  their  children,  they  will  give  them  no  re- 
ligious instruction  ;  they  will  never  pray  for  them,  for 
they  never  pray  for  themselves ;  and  without  religious 
instruction  and  prayer,  little  or  nothing  effectual  can  be 


292  THE  GUILT  AND  CONSEQUENCES 


done.  But  in  religious  parents,  this  sin  almost  invaria- 
bly proceeds  from  indolence  and  selfishness.  They 
love  their  own  ease  too  well  to  employ  that  constant 
care  and  exertion,  which  are  necessary  to  restrain  their 
children,  and  educate  them  as  they  ought.  They  can- 
not bear  to  correct  them,  or  put  them  to  pain ;  not  be- 
cause they  love  their  children,  but  because  they  love 
themselves,  and  are  unwilling  to  endure  the  pain  of  in- 
flicting punishment,  and  of  seeing  their  children  suffer  | 
though  they  cannot  but  be  sensible,  that  their  happiness 
requires  it.  There  is  also  much  unbelief,  much  con- 
tempt of  God,  and  much  positive  disobedience  in  this 
sin.  Parents  are  as  expressly  and  as  frequently  com- 
manded to  restrain,  to  correct,  and  instruct  their  child- 
ren, as  to  perform  any  other  duty  whatever.  Great 
promises  are  made  to  the  performance  of  this  duty ; 
awful  threatenings  are  denounced  against  the  neglect  of 
it.  Yet  all  these  motives  prove  ineffectual.  The  com- 
mands are  disobeyed,  the  promises  and  threatenings  are 
disbelieved  and  disregarded,  and  thus  parents  honor 
their  children  more  than  God,  and  seek  their  own  ease 
rather  than  his  pleasure,  as  Eli  is  said  to  have  done. 
It  appears,  then,  that  this  sin  proceeds  from  open  wick- 
edness, which  renders  parents  ashamed  to  restrain  their 
children  ;  or  from  impiety  and  infidelity,  which  causes 
them  to  think  it  needless  or  from  indolence  and  self- 
ishness, which  make  them  unwilling  to  do  it.  Now 
these  are  some  of  the  worst  principles  of  our  depraved 
nature  ;  and  therefore  we  need  not  wonder  that  a  sin, 
which  proceeds  from  such  sources,  is  exceedingly  dis- 
pleasing to  God. 

2.  This  sin  exceedingly  displeasing  to  God,  because, 
so  far  as  it  prevails,  it  entirely  frustrates  his  design  in  es- 
tablishing the  family  state.  We  are  taught,  that  he  at 
first  formed  one  man  and  one  woman,  and  united  them 
in  marriage,  that  he  might  seek  a  Godly  seed.  But  this 
important  design  is  entirely  frustrated  by  those  parents 
who  neglect  the  moral  and  religious  education  of  their 
children  ;  and  therefore  God  cannot  but  be  greatly  dis- 


OF  PARENTAL  UNFAITHFULNESS. 


293 


pleased  with  a  sin  which  renders  his  benovolent  meas- 
ures for  our  happiness  unavailing. 

3.  God  is  greatly  displeased  with  this  sin  on  account 
of  the  good  which  it  prevents,  and  the  infinite  evil  which 
it  produces.    He  has  taught  us,  that  children  properly 
educated  will  be  good  and  happy,  both  here  and  here- 
after.   He  has  also  taught  us  that  children,  whose  ed- 
ucation is  neglected,  will  probably  be  temporally  and 
eternally  miserable.    At  least,  it  will  not  be  owing  to 
their  parents,  if  they  are  not.    He  also  compels  us  to 
learn  from  observation  and  experience,  that  innumerable 
evils  and  miseries  do  evidently  result  from  this  sin  ;  that 
the  happiness  of  families  is  destroyed  ;  that  the  peace  of 
society  is  disturbed  ;  that  the  prosperity  of  nations  is  sub- 
verted, and  that  immortal  souls  are  ruined  by  its  effects. 
Now  the  anger  of  God  against  any  sin,  is  in  proportion  to 
the  evils  and  the  misery  which  it  tends  to  produce.  But  it 
is  evident  that  no  sin  tends  to  produce  more  evils,  or  great- 
er misery  than  this.    It  is  the  fruitful  parent  of  thousands 
of  other  sins,  and  entails  ruin  upon  our  descendants  to 
the  third  and  fourth  generation.    With  no  sin,  therefore, 
has  God  more  reason  to  be  angry  than  with  this. 

Lastly  ;  this  sin  is  exceedingly  displeasing  to  him, 
because  those  who  are  guilty  of  it  break  over  the  most 
powerful  restraints,  and  act  a  most  unnatural  part.  He 
knew  that  it  would  not  be  safe  to  entrust  such  creatures 
as  we  are  with  the  education  of  immortal  souls,  unless 
we  had  powerful  inducements  to  be  faithful  to  the  trust. 
He,  therefore,  implanted  in  the  hearts  of  parents  a  strong 
and  tender  affection  for  their  offspring,  and  a  most  ar- 
dent desire  for  their  happiness,  tfiat  they  might  thus  be 
induced  to  educate  them  as  they  ought.  But  those  who 
neglect  to  restrain  their  children,  do  violence  to  this 
powerful  operative  principle,  and  may  be  said  to  be  like 
the  heathen,  without  natural  affection.  It  is  true  they 
may  have  a  kind  of  blind  fondness  for  their  offspring, 
like  that  of  the  irrational  animals  ;  but  it  does  not  at  all 
resemble  a  virtuous  enlightened  affection,  and  is  alto- 
25* 


294  THE  GUILT  AND  CONSEQUENCES 

gether  unworthy  of  a  rational,  and  still  more  of  a  Chris- 
tian parent ;  and,  therefore,  instead  of  prompting  them 
to  seek  the  real  happiness  of  their  children,  it  is  but  too 
often  made  an  excuse  for  neglecting  it. 

Thus,  my  friends,  have  we  endeavored  to  describe 
the  sin  mentioned  in  our  text,  with  its  punishment,  and 
the  reasons  why  it  is  so  exceedingly  displeasing  to  God. 
And  now  let  us  improve  the  subject, 

1.  By  inquiring  whether  the  sin  does  not  greatly  pre- 
vail among  ourselves.  But,  my  friends,  inquiry  is  need- 
less. It  most  evidently  does.  1  am  inclined  to  believe 
that  it  is  the  greatest  and  most  provoking  sin  among  us. 
And,  my  friends,  you  must  allow  that  the  speaker  has 
had  sufficient  opportunity  to  form  something  of  a  cor- 
rect opinion  on  this  subject.  He  has  resided  in  this 
place  three  years  as  an  instructer  of  youth,  and  almost 
nine  years  as  a  preacher  of  the  gospel.  In  this  capaci- 
ty he  has  had  free  access  to  families  of  every  class,  in 
all  circumstances,  and  he  has  had  very  considerable  op- 
portunities of  witnessing  the  -manner  in  which  children 
are  treated ;  he  has  felt  disposed  to  avail  himself  of 
these  opportunities,  and  he  is  constrained  to  declare  thus 
publicly,  that  he  has  found  but  comparatively  few  fami- 
lies in  which  there  is  not  a  gross  and  evident  neglect  of 
the  moral  and  religious  education  of  children.  He  has 
but  too  often  witnessed  in  his  parochial  visits  attempts  to 
restrain  children,  while  he  was  present ;  attempts,  which 
were  evidently  unusual,  and  which  were  of  course  un- 
successful, and  which  only  proved  that  the  children,  and 
not  the  parents,  ruled.  But  it  is  needless  to  mention 
these  circumstances.  Qur  streets,  and  the  vicious  con- 
duct of  but  too  many  of  our  youth  are  open  witnesses 
against  many  among  us,  that  their  sons  make  themselves 
vile  and  they  restrain  them  not.  You  well  know  that  it 
is  almost  impossible  to  walk  our  streets,  without  having 
the  ear  wounded  by  profane  and  indecent  expressions 
from  lips  which  have  but  just  learned  to  speak.  You 
need  not  be  told,  at  least  many  of  you  need  not,  that  there 
are  many  haunts  of  intemperance  and  every  kind  of 


OP  PARENTAL  UNFAITHFULNESS.  295 


wickedness  in  this  town,  to  which  boys  resort  to  learn 
and  practice  the  vices  of  men  ;  where  they  soon  learn  to 
glory  in  their  shame,  and  to  get  rid  betimes  of  the 
troublesome  restraints  and  reproaches  of  conscience. 
You  need  not  be  told,  that  our  annual  days  of  fasting  are, 
by  many  of  the  young,  considered  and  treated  as  days 
set  apart  for  sinful  and  almost  riotous  amusement,  and 
that  the  language  of  their  conduct  seems  to  be,  We  are 
determined  to  fill  up  the  measure  of  our  national  sins, 
as  fast  as  our  parents  empty  it.  In  fact,  1  suspect  that 
there  is  more  sin  committed  on  our  days  of  fasting,  than 
on  almost  any  other  day  of  the  year.  But  it  is  need- 
less to  enlarge.  My  very  soul  sickens  to  think  of  the 
dreadful  proofs  of  youthful  wickedness  and  profligacy, 
which  I  almost  daily  hear  or  witness.  Surely,  if  it  be 
true,  that  a  child  trained  up  in  the  way  he  should  go  will 
not  depart  from  it,  but  few,  very  few  indeed  of  the  ri- 
sing generation  are  thus  trained.  I  would  not,  howev- 
er, be  understood  to  mean,  that  all,  or  even  a  large  pro- 
portion of  the  vicious  children  in  this  town  are  the  chil- 
dren of  this  society.  I  do  not  now  particularly  recollect 
any  one  that  is  so.  But,  my  friends,  are  there  not 
many,  even  among  us,  who  are  grossly  deficient  in  this  re- 
spect, many  whose  sons  make  themselves  vile,  many  who 
suffer  their  children  to  associate  with  vile  companions 
and  they  restrain  them  not  ?  Are  there  not  many,  who 
have  already  suffered  some  of  the  punishments  with  which 
the  house  of  Eli  was  visited  ?  Are  there  none,  who  have 
reason  to  fear  that  their  children  were  cut  off  by  an  un- 
timely death,  the  consequence,  at  least  in  some  degree, 
of  a  neglected  education  ?  Are  there  none,  whose  child- 
ren survive  only  to  consume  their  eyes  and  grieve  their 
hearts  by  their  misconduct,  and  cause  them  bitterly  to 
lament  the  consequences  of  their  neglect  now,  when  it  is 
too  late  to  repair  it?  It  is  indescribably  painful  to  tear 
open  the  bleeding  wounds  of  such  parents,  if  such  there 
are ;  but  it  must  be  done,  if  it  be  only  to  bring  them  to 
repentance  and  the  enjoyment  of  pardon.  It  seems  that 
if  any  sin  calls  for  repentance,  this  especially  does ;  and 


29G  THE  GUILT  AND  CONSEQUENCES 


it  becomes  all  of  us,  who  are  parents,  to  humble  our- 
selves before  God  for  our  innumerable  deficiencies,  and 
to  beg  that  he  will  not  visit  our  sins  upon  our  children.  < 
It  may  perhaps  be  too  late  with  many  to  reform  now. 
The  children  have  become  too  old  to  be  controled ; 
they  have  left  the  paternal  roof,  and  perhaps  gone  to  the 
world  of  spirits.    The  mischief  is  done  and  cannot  be 
remedied.    My  friends,  if  any  thing  can  convince  you 
of  the  need  of  an  atonement,  it  must  be  this.  Suppose 
a  parent,  by  neglect  or  by  bad  example,  has  ruined  his 
children ;  they  die  in  their  sins,  and  go  to  the  judgment 
seat.    After  their  death,  suppose  their  criminal  parent 
is  brought  to  repentance,  what  can  clear  him  from 
guilt  ?  what  can  wash  away  his  sin  ?    He  has  destroyed 
an  immortal  soul,  the  soul  of  his  own  child  ;  a  soul, 
which  God  committed  to  his  care,  and  of  which  he 
will  demand  an  account.    Now  what  account  can  such 
a  parent  render  ?    What  atonement  can  he  make  to 
God  for  destroying  one  of  his  creatures  ?  to  that  God 
who  declares  that  he  will  require  blood  for  blood,  life  for 
life,  of  every  one  who  unlawfully  takes  away  the  life  of 
a  fellow  creature  ?    Will  his  tears,  his  repentance  re- 
store the  dead  to  life,  or  save  the  soul  which  he  has  ru- 
ined ?    No ;  nor  would  it  avail  should  he  offer  thou- 
sands of  rams,  or  ten  thousands  of  rivers  of  oil ;  for  God 
expressly  declared  that  the  sin  of  Eli's  house  should  not 
be  purged  with  offering  nor  sacrifice  forever.  What 
then  can  take  away  the  guilt,  and  procure  the  pardon  of 
such  a  parent  ?    Is  there  any  way,  or  must  he  perish  ? 
There  is  a  way.    The  blood  of  Christ  cleanseth  from 
all  sin  ;  and  surely  such  a  parent  needs  it  all,  nor  could 
any  thing  short  of  this  precious  atoning  blood,  make  sat- 
isfaction for  this  irreparable  mischief  which  his  neglect 
has  occasioned.    If  then  there  be  any  present,  who  are 
guilty  of  this  sin,  any,  who  fear  that  by  their  bad  exam- 
ple, or  their  neglect,  they  have  occasioned  the  ruin  of 
an  immortal  soul,  we  would  point  them  to  Christ  for  re- 
lief and  pardon.    By  his  blood  even  those  who  have 
destroyed  others  may  themselves  be  saved  from  destruc- 


OF  PARENTAL  UNFAITHFULNESS  297 


tion,  if  their  repentance  be  sincere  ;  for  he  has  declared 
that  all  manner  of  sin  and  blasphemy,  not  committed 
against  the  Holy  Ghost,  shall  be  forgiven  to  the  penitent. 
But  if  any,  who  are  guilty  of  this  sin,  do  not  repent  and 
apply  to  the  Saviour  for  pardon,  the  oath  of  God  stands 
against  them,  that  their  iniquity  shall  not  be  purged  for- 
ever. My  friends,  let  all  who  are  parents  think  of  this, 
and  beware  of  this  ruinous,  this  aggravated,  this  almost 
unpardonable  sin.  Chasten  thy  son,  says  the  wise  man, 
while  there  is  yet  hope,  nor  let  thy  soul  spare  for  his 
crying ;  for  he  that  spareth  correction  hateth  his  son, 
but  he  that  loveth  him  will  chasten  him  betimes.  Thou 
shalt  scourge  him  with  the  rod,  and  shalt  deliver  his 
soul  from  hell. 

2.  If  there  are  any  children  or  youth  now  present, 
whose  parents  do  not  restrain  them,  and  who  make  them- 
selves vile  by  indulging  in  vicious  or  sinful  practices,  they 
may  learn  from  this  subject,  what  will  be  their  fate,  un- 
less repentance  prevent.  Children^and  youth,  I  am  now 
speaking  to  you.  You  are  deeply  interested  in  this  sub- 
ject. Remember  the  character  and  the  fate  of  Eli's 
sons.  They  made  themselves  vile,  and  God  slew  them. 
Remember  that  a  quarrelsome  temper,  disobedience  to 
parents,  idleness,  neglect  of  the  Sabbath,  and  the  Bible, 
profane  and  indecent  language,  falsehood,  and  every 
kind  of  vicious  indulgence,  render  you  vile  in  the  sight 
of  God,  and  are  the  high  road  to  poverty  and  contempt 
in  this  world,  and  everlasting  wretchedness  in  the  next. 
Remember  too  that,  if  your  parents  do  not  forbid,  and 
punish  you  for,  these  sins,  that  will  not  excuse  you  in  the 
sight  of  God.  Eli  did  not  restrain  his  sons,  and  yet  God 
destroyed  them.  But  if  any  of  you,  who  have  religious 
parents,  pursue  such  courses  in  defiance  of  their  admo- 
nitions, your  doom  will  be  still  worse.  There  is  no  more 
certain  forerunner  of  ruin  in  this  world  and  the  next, 
than  habitual  disregard  to  the  counsels  and  warnings  of 
such  parents.  We  are  told  that  Eli's  sons  hearkened 
not  to  their  father,  because  the  Lord  would  slay  them  ; 


298  THE  GUILT  AND  CONSEQUENCES, 

and  if  any  childrenpresent  refuse  to  obey  their  parents, 
it  gives  reason  to  fear  that  God  intends,  in  like  manner, 
to  destroy  them.       *       *  * 


SERMON  XXI 


The  Glory  which  is  due  to  Jehovah. 

[A  Thanksgiving  Sermon.] 


1  CHRONICLES  XVI.  28,  29. 

GIVE  UNTO  THE  LORD,  YE  KINDREDS  OF  THE  PEOPLE,  GIVE  UNTO  THE 
LORD  GLORY  AND  STRENGTH.  GIVE  UNTO  THE  LORD  THE  GLORY 
DUE  UNTO  HIS  NAME  \  BRING  AN  OFFERING,  AND  COME  BEFORE 
HIM  ;  WORSHIP  THE  LORD  IN  THE  BEAUTY  OF  HOLINESS, 

The  sacred  song,  from  which  these  words  are  se- 
lected, was  composed  by  the  sweet  psalmist  of  Israel,  in 
honor  of  the  most  interesting  and  joyful  event,  which 
occurred  during  the  whole  period  of  his  eventful  life. 
The  event  to  which  we  allude  was,  the  triumphant  re- 
moval of  the  ark  of  God's  covenant,  the  symbol  of  his 
presence,  from  the  state  of  obscurity  in  which  it  had 
remained  for  many  years,  to  a  suitable  p^ace  in  the  roy- 
al  city.  To  the  psalm  which  David  composed  on  this 
occasion,  no  higher  or  more  appropriate  praise  can  be 
given,  than  is  contained  in  the  remark,  that  it  was  in  all 
respects  worthy  of  the  occasion  which  called  it  forth. 
He  seems  to  have  been  inspired,  while  penning  it,  with 
a  double  portion  of  that  Spirit  which  dictated  all  his 
psalms,  and  which  causes  them  to  resemble  the  songs 
that  are  sung  by  saints  and  angels  before  the  throne. 
Sing  unto  the  Lord,  he  exclaims,  all  the  earth,  shew 
forth  his  salvation  from  day  to  day  :  Sing  unto  the 
Lord,  sing  to  him  sacred  songs,  talk  ye  of  ail  his  won- 
drous works.  Give  thanks  unto  the  Lord,  call  upon  his 
name,  make  known  his  deeds  among  the  people.  Re- 


300 


GLORY  DUE  TO  JEHOVAH. 


member  the  marvellous  works  which  he  hath  done ;  his 
wonders  and  the  judgments  of  his  mouth.  Declare  bis 
glory  among  the  heathen,  his  marvellous  works  among 
all  nations ;  for  great  is  Jehovah  and  greatly  to^be  prais- 
ed, he  is  to  be  feared  above  all  gods  ;  for  all  the  gods 
of  the  people  are  vanity  and  a  lie,  but  Jehovah  made 
the  heavens.  Glory  and  honor  are  in  his  presence ; 
strength  and  gladness  are  in  his  place.  Then  follow 
the  words  of  our  text.  Give  unto  Jehovah,  O  ye  kind- 
reds of  the  people,  give  unto  Jehovah  glory  and  strength ; 
give  unto  him  the  glory  due  unto  his  name.  Bring  an 
offering  and  come  before  him  ;  worship  Jehovah  in  the 
beauty  of  holiness. 

The  duties  which  all  the  kindreds  of  the  people,  or, 
in  other  words,  all  nations,  are  here  called  upon  to  per- 
form, are  precisely  the  duties  for  the  public  performance 
of  which,  this  day  is  set  apart,  and  for  which  we  are  now 
professedly  assembled.  Of  these  duties  the  first  men- 
tioned, and  that  which  virtually  includes  them  all,  is,  to 
give  unto  Jehovah  the  glory  which  is  due  unto  his  name. 
He  who  rightly  performs  this  duty  will  perform,  not  only 
the  appropriate  duties  of  a  day  of  public  thanksgiving, 
but  every  other  duty  which  God  requires  of  his  crea- 
tures ;  for  the  whole  preceptive  part  of  the  Bible  is  con- 
tained in  this  one  command,  Give  unto  Jehovah  the 
glory  which  is  his  due.  To  shew  what  it  is  to  do  this,  is 
my  present  design. 

With  this  view  I  remark,  that  every  being  has  a  right, 
and  may  justly  claim,  to  be  regarded  and  treated,  by  all 
who  know  him,  in  a  manner  suited  to  the  nature  and 
character  which  he  possesses,  to  the  relations  and  offi- 
ces which  he  sustains,  and  to  the  works  which  he  per- 
forms. For  instance,  human  nature,  or  the  nature  of 
•  man,  is  of  n  higher  order  than  that  of  the  brutes.  All 
who  possess  this  nature  have,  therefore,  a  right  to  be 
regarded  and  treated  in  a  corresponding  manner.  Should 
we,  in  any  instance,  disregard  this  right,  and  treat  a 
man  as  if  he  were  a  brute,  we  should  be  guilty  of  injus- 
tice, we  should  not  give  him  that  which  is  his  due. 


GLORY  DUE  TO  JEHOVAH.  301 

Similar  remarks  may  be  made  respecting  character.  If 
any  being  possesses  a  lovely  character,  he  has  a  right 
to  be  beloved  ;  if  a  venerable  character,  he  has  a  right 
to  be  revered  ;  if  he  is  faithful  and  true,  he  has  a  just 
claim  to  our  belief  and  confidence.  There  are  also 
offices  and  relations,  which  give  those  who  sustain  them 
a  right  to  claim  particular  services  and  affections  from 
others.  A  man  who  sustains  the  relation  of  a  father, 
has  a  right  to  the  filial  affections  of  his  children.  A 
man  who  sustains  the  office  of  a  sovereign,  has  a  right 
to  the  obedience  of  his  subjects.  Finally,  there  axe  va- 
rious works  which  entitle  those  who  perform  them  to 
be  regarded  with  suitable  affections.  One  who  per- 
forms any  admirable  work  has  a  claim  upon  our  admi- 
ration. And  the  man  who  performs  an  act  of  kindness, 
has  a  right  to  expect  grateful  returns. 

To  apply  these  remarks  to  the  case  before  us.  Je- 
hovah possesses  a  nature  and  character  peculiar  to  him- 
self; he  sustains  various  offices  and  relations,  and  he 
has  performed  many  works  which  he  alone  could  per- 
form. On  all  these  accounts  something  is  due  to  him 
from  his  creatures.  And  when  we  regard  him  with  such 
affections,  and  yield  him  such  services,  as  his  nature, 
character,  offices,  and  works  deserve,  then  we  give  unto 
him  the  glory  which  is  due  to  his  name. 

1.  Let  us  inquire  what  is  due  to  Jehovah  on  account 
of  his  nature.  The  nature  of  any  being  is,  that  the  pos- 
session of  which  constitutes  him  what  he  is.  Thus  the 
possession  of  human  nature  constitutes  a  man.  The 
possession  of  angelic  nature  constitutes  an  angel,  and 
the  possession  of  a  divine  nature  constitutes  God.  Now 
the  nature  of  Jehovah  is  divine.  In  what  it  consists,  or 
what  is  its  essence,  we  cannot  indeed  tell.  We  only 
know  some  of  its  properties.  We  know  that  it  is  un- 
created, self-existent,  independent,  and  eternal.  It 
could  have  no  beginning ;  for  there  is  no  cause  which 
could  bring  a  divine  nature  into  existence.  It  can  have 
no  end  ;  for  there  is  no  cause  which  can  put  a  period 
to  the  existence  of  divinity.  And  as  Jehovah  possesses 
26 


302 


GLORY  DUE  TO  JEHOVAH. 


a  divine  nature,  so  he  alone  possesses  such  a  nature. 
He  is  not  only  God,  but  God  alone.  There  is  no  God 
before  him,  none  beside  him.  In  a  word,  he  is  the  only 
being  of  the  same  kind  who  now  exists,  who  ever  has 
existed,  or  who  ever  will  exist.  In  this  respect  he  dif- 
fers widely  from  all  other  beings.  Of  those  who  possess 
human  nature,  and  angelic  nature,  the  number  is  great. 
Of  course,  whatever  is  due  to  human  or  angelic  nature 
must  be  divided  among  a  great  number  of  individuals. 
Whatever  is  due  to  human  nature,  must  be  divided 
among  all  the  angels.  But  with  respect  to  Jehovah  the 
ease  is  different.  He  has  no  partners  in  the  divine  na- 
ture. Of  course,  there  are  none  to  share  with  him  in 
what  is  due  to  that  nature.  Ail  that  is  due  to  divinity 
is  due  to  him  alone,  without  division.  Here  then  is  a 
being  who  deserves  something  which  is  due  to  no  other 
being  in  the  universe,  who  may  justly  claim  to  be  re- 
garded with  affections  to  which  no  other  being  has  any 
title.  He  therefore  who  does  not  give  something  to  Je- 
hovah, which  he  gives  to  no  other  being,  does  not  give 
unto  him  the  glory  which  is  his  due.  If  it  be  asked 
what  must  be  given  to  Jehovah,  which  is  given  to  no 
other  being,  I  answer,  one  thing,  which  must  be  given 
to  him  alone,  is,  religious  worship  and  adoration.  Many 
other  things  indeed  are  his  due,  which  we  shall  have 
occasion  to  notice;  but  this  is  due  to  him,  considered 
simply  as  a  being  who  is  by  nature  God  over  all.  And 
the  religious  worship  which  is  paid  him  must  be  suited 
to  his  nature.  He  is  by  nature  a  spirit,  and  must  there- 
fore, as  our  Saviour  informs,  be  worshipped  in  spirit  and 
in  truth.  He  is  also  a  most  holy  spirit,  and  must  there- 
fore, to  use  the  language  of  our  text,  be  worshipped  in 
the  beauty  of  holiness,  in  the  exercise  of  all  those  holy 
affections  which  constitute  moral  beauty  and  excellence. 
The  man  who  thus  worships  Jehovah,  the  man  whose 
body,  soul,  and  spirit,  all  bow  down  before  him  in  hum- 
ble prostration,  whose  understanding  acknowledges  that 
he  is  God  alone,  and  whose  heart  adores  him  as  God 


GLORY  DUE  TO  JEHOVAH. 


SOS 


alone,  gives  unto  him  the  glory  which  is  his  due  on  ac- 
count of  his  nature. 

2.  Let  us  next  inquire  what  is  due  to  Jehovah  ou 
account  of  the  character  which  he  possesses.  We  have 
already  seen,  that  every  being  may  justly  claim  to  be 
regarded  with  affections  suited  to  his  character.  Now 
the  character  of  Jehovah  is  absolutely  perfect.  It  is 
the  very  standard  of  perfection.  We  may  safely  chal- 
lenge the  whole  created  universe  to  mention  or  con-, 
ceive  of,  a  single  beautiful,  amiable,  admirable,  or  vene- 
rable quality,  which  he  does  not  possess  in  an  infinite 
degree.  Indeed  it  is  certain  that  no  language  has  even 
a  name  for  any  excellent,  moral  or  intellectual  quality, 
which  is  not  found  in  the  character  of  Jehovah.  And 
it  is  worthy  of  remark,  that,  there  is,  in  his  character, 
something  which  is  suited  to  excite  every  proper  affec- 
tion of  which  the  human  soul  is  capable.  Are  we,  for 
instance,  capable  of  feeling  veneration  and  awe  ?  There 
is  something  in  God's  character  which  is  suited  to  excite 
these  emotions.  Are  we  capable  of  feeling  admiration  ? 
There  is  in  his  character  every  thing  to  admire.  Are 
we  capable  of  love  ?  In  his  character  there  is  sufficient 
to  raise  the  flame  of  love  to  the  highest  pitch  of  inten- 
sity. Are  we  capable  of  exercising  confidence  ?  His 
truth  and  faithfulness  may  well  lead  us  to  confide  in 
him.  Are  we  capable  of  hope  ?  His  mercy  is  well 
suited  to  excite  it.  And  can  it  be  necessary  to  remark 
that,  if  any  being  can  deserve  praise,  he  who  possesses 
such  a  character  as  this  deserves  it  ?  Is  it  not  most  ev- 
ident that  he  is  worthy  to  be  feared,  and  venerated,  and 
admired,  and  loved,  and  confided  in,  with  all  the  heart 
and  soul  and  mind  and  strength  ?  Now  to  regard  him 
with  all  these  affections,  and  to  express  these  affections 
in  fervent  humble  praise,  extolling  him  as  infinitely  great 
and  powerful  and  wise  and  good  and  merciful  and  true, 
is  to  give  him  the  glory  which  is  due  to  his  charac- 
ter. Of  him  who  thus  offers  praise,  God  says,  He  glo- 
rifieth  me. 


304 


GLORY  DUE  TO  JEHOVAH 


3.  Let  us  inquire  what  is  due  to  God  on  account  of 
the  relations  and  offices  which  he  sustains.    The  first 
and  principal  relation  which  he  sustains  with  respect  to 
us,  is,  that  of  a  Creator  to  his  creatures.    And  what  re- 
lation can  be  more  sacred,  or  invest  him  who  sustains  it 
with  so  many  rights  as  this  ?    What  is  not  due  from  us 
to  him  who  is  at  once  the  Former  of  our  bodies,  and  the 
Father  of  our  spirits  ?    That  you  may  be  prepared  to 
answer  this  question,  suppose  yourselves  standing  by  the 
throne  of  God,  with  your  eyes  fixed  on  empty  space. 
You  are  told,  that  in  that  space,  God  is  about  to  exert 
his  power.    He  speaks, — and  suddenly  a  shapeless  mass 
of  dead,  inorganized  matter  appears,  where  before  there 
was  nothing.    He  speaks  again,  and  this  shapeless  mass 
assumes  the  form  and  countenance  of  a  human  body,  with 
all  its  limbs,  and  organs  of  sensation.    He  speaks  once 
more,  and  an  immortal  spirit,  endued  with  rational  facul- 
ties, comes  into  existence  within  that  body,  and  the  new- 
ly created  being  awakes  to  conscious  existence,  and  be- 
gins to  exert  its  limbs  and  faculties.    Suppose  God 
should  then  reveal  himself  to  this  being,  and  say,  I  am 
thy  Creator.    I  called  into  existence  that  matter  which 
now  forms  thy  body  ;  I  gave  it  its  form,  its  members,  its 
senses,  and  I  breathed  into  it  that  living,  conscious,  in- 
telligent spirit,  by  which  it  is  actuated  and  controlled. 
In  these  circumstances  what  should  be  the  feelings  and 
conduct  of  such  a  creature  ?    What  return  would  God 
have  a  right  to  expect  from  him  ?    What  return  would 
you  expect  him  to  make  ?    Would  you  not  expect  to 
.see  him  fall  at  his  Maker's  feet,  and  to  hear  him  say, 
Lord  I  am  thine,  wholly  and  forever  thine  ;  all  that  I 
am,  all  that  I  can  ever  acquire,  is  thine.    To  thee  I  con- 
secrate my  existence,  my  body,  my  soul,  with  all  the 
powers  of  both.    To  thee  alone  it  belongs  to  prescribe 
the  manner  in  which  I  shall  employ  them,  the  thoughts 
and  feelings  which  I  shall  exercise,  the  words  which  I 
shall  utter,  and  the  services  which  I  shall  perform. 
Speak  Lord,  and  appoint  me  my  duty,  for  thy  servant 
heareth,  and  is  ready  to  obey  ?    Language  like  this,  and 


GLORY  DUE  TO  JEHOVAK. 


305 


feelings  corresponding  with  this  language,  you  would 
surely  expect  from  such  a  creature,  in  such  circum- 
stances. And  should  he,  instead  of  realizing  these  ex- 
pectations, pay  no  regard  to  bis  Maker,  deny  that  he  had 
any  right  to  his  affections  and  services,  and  live  only  to 
please  himself,  you  would  feel  that  he  was  very  far  in- 
deed from  rendering  unto  God  that  which  was  his  due, 
that  he  was  ungrateful  and  criminal  in  the  highest  degree. 
My  hearers,  what  you  would  expect  from  such  a  crea- 
ture, God  expects  and  demands  from  each  of  us.  And 
he  has  a  perfect  right  to  demand  it,  nor  can  we  give  him 
the  glory  which  is  due  to  him  as  our  Creator,  unless  we 
cordially  comply  with  this  demand  to  its  utmost  extent. 

Another  relation,  which  God  sustains  with  respect  to 
us,  is  that  of  a  Preserver.  It  is  now  almost  universally 
acknowledged  by  philosophers,  as  well  as  by  divines, 
that  preservation  is  equivalent  to  a  continually  repeated 
act  of  creation,  and  that  to  keep  any  being  or  thing  in 
existence,  requires  a  constant  exertion  of  the  same  pow- 
er, which  first  gave  it  existence.  Hence  it  follows,  that 
God  does  in  effect  repeat  the  act  of  our  creation,  and  re- 
new the  gift  of  existence,  every  moment.  Every  mo- 
ment then  our  obligations  to  his  goodness  increase. 
They  are  greater  to-day  than  they  were  yesterday  ;  and 
they  will  be  greater  to-morrow,  than  they  are  to-day. 
No  man  who  forgets,  or  who  is  not  suitably  affected  by 
these  truths,  can  be  justly  considered  as  giving  unto  God 
the  glory  which  is  due  to  his  name.  From  the  relations 
of  Creator  and  Preserver  in  which  Jehovah  stands  to  his 
creatures,  it  results,  that  he  must  sustain  with  respect  to 
them,  various  offices,  important  and  honorable.  He 
must  necessarily  be  the  universal  Teacher,  Master,  Sov- 
ereign and  Judge.  Now  we  consider  each  of  these 
offices  as  honorable,  even  when  possessed  by  men  only, 
and  as  entitling  those  who  fill  it  to  peculiar  regards. 
What  then  is  due  to  Jehovah,  who  sustains  them  all  with 
respect  to  the  whole  intelligent  universe  ?  and  who  is 
perfectly  qualified  to  perform  the  duties  of  them  all  in 
the  most  perfect  manner  ?  Considered  as  an  infinitely 
26* 


306 


GLORY  DUE  TO  JEHOVAH. 


wise,  omnicient,  and  infallible  Teacher,  he  may  justly 
claim,  that  all  his  instructions  should  be  received  with 
the  utmost  docility  and  the  most  profound  submission. 
Considered  as  a  Master,  every  service  is  due  to  him 
which  he  may  choose  to  require  of  us.  Considered  as 
the  rightful  Lawgiver,  Sovereign,  and  Judge  of  the  uni- 
verse, he  has  a  perfect  right  to  demand  unlimited  sub- 
mission to  his  authority,  and  obedience  to  all  his  com- 
mands. If  then  we  would  give  him  the  glory  which  is 
due  to  his  name,  we  must  acknowledge  that  he  fills  all 
these  offices,  and  must  regard  and  treat  him  in  a  corres- 
ponding manner. 

Lastly  ;  let  us  inquire  what  is  due  to  Jehovah  on  ac- 
count of  the  works  which  he  has  performed.  It  has 
been  already  remarked,  and  will  he  readily  allowed, 
that  every  being  is  entitled  to  all  the  praise,  which  his 
works  deserve.  The  historian,  the  poet,  the  orator,  the 
painter,  the  sculptor,  the  architect,  are  all  admired,  ap- 
plauded, and  honored,  in  proportion  to  the  real,  or  sup- 
posed excellence  of  the  works  which  they  produce. 
This  admiration,  applause  and  honor,  are  universally 
considered  as  their  due,  and  while  the  debt  is  readily 
acknowledged,  it  is  paid  with  cheerfulness,  and  often 
with  rapturous  enthusiasm.  Thousands  of  volumes  have 
been  written,  and  ten  thousand  times  ten  thousand  tongues 
have  been  eloquent,  in  praise  of  the  natural  and  acquired 
abilities,  which  some  of  the  works  of  men  have  display- 
ed ;  nor  is  it  pretended  that  the  authors  of  these  works 
have  received  more  praise  and  honor  than  was  their  due. 
O  then,  what  praise,  what  honors,  are  due  to  him,  of 
whom  it  may  with  such  truth  be  said,  Among  the  gods, 
O  Lord,  there  is  none  like  thee,  neither  are  there  any 
works  like  unto  thy  works  !  As  all  the  nations  of  the 
earth  are  less  than  vanity,  in  comparison  with  Jehovah, 
so  all  the  works  of  men  appear  to  be  less  than  nothing 
and  vanity,  when  compared  with  his.  There  is  one 
class  of  his  works  indeed,  toward  the  performance,  or 
even  toward  the  imitation  of  which,  no  man,  nor  angel, 
can  make  the  smallest  approach.    You  will  perceive  at 


GLORY  DUE  TO  JEHOVAH 


307 


once  that  I  refer  to  his  works  of  creation.  Men  may 
modify  and  combine  and  alter  what  is  already  created, 
but  they  can  create  nothing,  not  even  a  particle  of  dust ; 
nay  they  cannot  even  originate  a  single  new  idea.  If 
any  doubt  the  truth  of  this  assertion,  let  them  try  to 
form  an  idea  of  a  sixth  sense,  or  of  any  objects  with 
which  such  a  sense  would  make  us  acquainted,  and  they 
will  soon  find  that  the  attempt  is  vain.  How  wonderfuf, 
how  inconceivable,  then,  must  be  the  powers  and  opera- 
tions of  that  eternal,  infinite,  all-creating  mind,  which, 
before  anv  worlds  or  creatures  existed,  could  form  an 
idea  of  all  the  worlds  and  creatures  which  now  exist,  of 
all  their  various  parts,  and  of  all  the  numberless  relations 
and  connections  which  subsist  between  them  !  What 
infinite  wisdom  and  knowledge  were  displayed,  in  origin- 
ating all  these  ideas,  in  causing  them  to  come  and  stand 
as  it  were  before  the  eye  of  his  mind,  in  forming  the 
whole  complicated  plan  of  such  a  universe  as  this !  And 
when  this  plan  was  formed,  what  infinite  power  was  re- 
quired to  execute  it,  to  bring  out  of  nothing  into  exist- 
ence so  many  millions  of  systems  and  suns  and  worlds 
and  creatures  as  now  exist  I  Consider,  too,  the  variety 
which  marks  and  adorns  God's  works  of  creation. 
Among  all  the  countless  objects  which  God  has  formed, 
probably  no  two  can  be  found  which,  in  all  respects,  per- 
fectly resemble  each  other.  While  all  the  individuals  of 
each  particular  species  have  a  general  resemblance,  no 
two  men,  no  two  animals,  no  two  plants,  nay,  no  two 
leaves,  are  exactly  alike.  Yet  who  would  have  thought 
such  a  diversity  possible,  had  he  not  witnessed  it  ?  who 
would  have  thought  it  possible  that  the  few  features  which 
compose  the  human  countenance  could  be  so  infinitely 
diversified,  that  no  two  individuals  of  the  human  race 
should  perfectly  resemble  each  other  ?  That  each  in- 
dividual should  differ  from  sill  others  in  the  tones  of  his 
voice,  is  perhaps  still  more  wonderful.  So  far  as  we 
can  discern,  a  similar  difference  exists  between  the  minds 
of  differents  individuals.  As  no  two  bodies,  so  probably 
no  two  souls  are  exactly  alike.    Parents  who  have  nu- 


308 


GLORY  DUE  TO  JEHOVAH. 


merous  families,  and  instructors  who  have  many  youth 
under  their  care,  often  notice  this  diversity  with  surprise. 
My  hearers,  reflect  a  moment  upon  these  facts.  Re- 
collect that  God  has  been  constantly  employed,  for  more 
than  five  thousand  years,  in  forming  new  men,  animals, 
and  plants ;  and  yet,  so  far  as  we  can  discover,  has 
never  formed  any  two  which  are  exactly  alike.  What 
an  idea  does  this  fact  alone  give  us  of  the  inexhaustible 
riches  of  the  divine  mind  !  And  could  we  pass  from 
this  world  to  all  the  worlds  which  God  has  made,  we 
should  prohably  find  every  where  new  proofs  of  this 
truth,  every  where  find  new  varieties  of  being,  new  forms 
of  material  and  intellectual  existence. 

From  the  consideration  of  God's  works  of  creation, 
let  us  proceed  to  his  works  of  providence,  or 
those  works  which  he  performs  in  preserving,  guiding, 
and  governing,  the  universe  which  he  has  made.  His 
works  of  this  nature  also  display  infinitely  greater  wis- 
dom,,skill,  power,  and  goodness  than  all  the  works  of 
men.  We  admire  the  ability  displayed  by  a  command- 
er, who  regulates,  without  confusion,  all  the  motions  of 
a  numerous  army  ;  by  a  monarch,  who  skilfully  manages 
all  the  concerns  of  an  extensive  and  populous  empire. 
But  what  is  this,  compared  with  the  wisdom,  knowledge,, 
and  power,  which  are  exhibited  by  Jehovah  in  the  pre- 
servation, control,  and  government,  of  all  his  innumera- 
ble hosts,  and  his  almost  boundless  empire  !  He  must 
every  moment  see  every  thing  which  takes  place  in  the 
universe  ;  every  feeling,  thought,  word,  and  action  of 
each  of  his  creatures,  and  every  motion  of  each  parti- 
cle of  matter.  He  must  not  only  see  all  these  things, 
but  he  must  never  forget  them.  He  must  not  only  see 
and  remember  them,  but  direct  and  overrule  them  all, 
in  such  a  manner,  as  shall  cause  them  to  work  together 
for  the  accomplishment  of  his  own  purposes,  and  for  the 
good  of  those  who  love  him.  He  must  also  foresee,  and 
be  able  to  foretell,  every  thing  which  will  take  place, 
with  the  time  and  the  manner  in  which  it  will  occur. 


GLORY  DUE  TO  JEHOVAH.  309 

In  fine,  he  must  be  continually  working  in  every 
place  5  and  the  past,  and  the  future,  heaven,  earth,  and 
hell,  all  time,  and  all  space,  with  all  which  they  contain, 
must  be  constantly  present  to  his  view.  And  O,  what  a 
mind  must  that  be,  which,  without  effort,  and  without 
confusion,  can  attend  at  once  to  such  an  infinite  variety 
of  objects  and  events,  and  direct  and  control  them  all  in 
the  wisest  and  best  possible  manner ! 

Equally  wonderful  is  the  display  of  moral  excellen- 
ces which  God's  works  of  providence  exhibit.  We 
admire  the  bounty  of  a  man  who  feeds  a  hundred  poor 
families  from  his  table.  But  God  every  day  feeds  the 
whole  family  of  man,  together  with  all  the  inferior  ani- 
mals, besides  bestowing  on  them  numberless  additional 
blessings.  We  admire  the  magnanimity  and  generosity 
of  an  earthly  monarch,  who  forgives  rebels  and  traitors, 
when  they  lie  at  his  mercy.  But  God  has  forgiven  mil- 
lions of  the  worst  of  rebels,  adopted  them  as  his  child- 
ren, and  made  them  his  heirs.  We  extol  the  conde- 
scension of  a  sovereign,  who,  on  one  day  in  the  week, 
orders  his  palace  gates  to  be  thrown  open  for  the  ad- 
mission of  petitioners.  But  the  ear  of  the  King  of  kings 
is  every  moment  open  to  the  petitions  of  the  meanest 
slave  who  crawls  upon  his  footstool.  We  justly  admire 
and  venerate  St.  Paul,  who  was  the  instrument  of  con- 
verting and  saving  some  thousands  of -immortal  souls. 
But  God,  as  the  sole  efficient  agent,  has  converted  and 
saved  many  millions  of  our  race,  and  is  still  daily  con- 
verting and  saving  more. 

There  is  another  point  of  view  in  which  the  superi- 
ority of  the  works  of  God  to  those  of  men  appears,  if 
possible,  still  more  evident.  He  is  the  real  author  of 
ail  the  admirable  and  excellent  works  which  men  per- 
form. He  gave  them  alt  the  abilities  by  which  these 
works  are  performed,  prompted  them  to  attempt  the 
performance,  and  then  crowned  their  attempts  with  suc- 
cess. All  the  writers,  who  have  enlightened  the  world, 
were  but  as  a  pen  guided  by  him.  All  the  great  men, 
who  have  delivered  their  countrymen  from  oppression, 


310 


GLORY  DUE  TO  JEHOVAH. 


were  but  a  sword  in  his  hand  to  cut  off  oppressors.  All 
the  inventors  and  improvers  of  useful  arts,  were  indebted 
to  him  for  all  their  inventions  and  improvements.  And 
all  the  good  men,  who  have  blessed  the  world  by  their 
example,  and  their  exertions,  owed  all  their  goodness, 
and  all  their  success  to  him.  He  is  also  the  author,  the 
dispenser  of  all  the  happiness  which  has  ever  been  en- 
joyed on  earth  or  in  heaven.  He  gave  us  senses  capa- 
ble of  being  gratified,  and  provrded  for  them  their  ap- 
propriate gratifications.  He  gave  us  our  intellectual 
faculties,  and  placed  before  them  objects  in  the  contem- 
plation and  acquisition  of  which  they  might  find  pleasure. 
He  made  us  capable  of  affections  which  it  is  delightful 
to  exercise,  and  gave  us  relations  and  friends  towards 
whom  those  affections  may  flow  out.  And  all  religious 
enjoyments,  all  the  happiness  of  heaven  proceeds  di- 
rectly from  him. 

In  fine,  he  is  constantly  doing  good,  doing  it  on  the 
largest  scale,  doing  it  not  merely  to  individuals,  families, 
and  nations,  but  to  whole  worlds  and  systems  at  once. 

Now,  if  we  would  give  God  the  glory  which  is  due  to 
him  on  account  of  his  works,  we  must  acknowledge  that 
he  performs  all  the  works  which  have  been  mentioned, 
and,  with  suitable  admiration,  and  affection,  render  unto 
him  the  praises  and  thanksgivings  which  such  works 
deserve.  But  what  creature,  or  what  combination  of 
creatures,  can  give  him  all  the  praise  and  thanksgiving 
which  such  works  deserve  ?  If  we  praise  the  sculptor, 
who  merely  forms  the  image  of  a  man,  how  can  we  suf- 
ficiently praise  him  who  created  not  only  the  sculptor 
himself,  but  ten  thousand  thousand  other  forms,  glowing 
with  life,  and  radiant  in  beauty  !  If  we  admire  the  paint- 
er who  skilfully  delineates  a  landscape,  or  a  human 
countenance,  what  admiration  is  due  to  the  divine  ar- 
tist, who  spreads  out  his  canvass  over  the  whole  earth, 
and,  with  colors  died  in  heaven,  makes  it  all  one  grand 
landscape,  in  which  all  that  is  beautiful,  and  all  that  is 
sublime,  are  exhibited  in  contrast,  or  harmoniously 
blended  !    If  we  extol  the  historian,  the  poet,  the  ora- 


GLORY  DUE  TO  JEHOVAH. 


311 


tor,  the  philosopher,  how  can  we  sufficiently  extol  him 
who  created  and  gave  them  all  their  powers.  If  we  ad- 
mire the  astronomer  who  discovers  the  motions  of  the 
heavenly  bodies,  how  shall  we  sufficiently  admire  him 
who  lighted  up  the  firmament  with  suns  and  planets,  and 
guides  Arcturus  with  his  sons.  If  we  applaud  the  man 
who  preserves  the  life  of  a  single  fellow  creature,  what 
applauses  are  due  to  that  God  who  daily  preserves  all 
creatures  and  all  worlds  in  being.  If  no  praises  are 
thought  too  great  for  the  patriot,  who  delivers  his  coun- 
try from  temporal  bondage,  what  praises  are  sufficient 
for  him  who  offers  to  a  ruined  enslaved  world  deliverance 
from  sin  and  misery,  and  death  and  hell  ?  O,  never, 
never,  can  any  creature,  nor  all  creatures  combined, 
give  God  the  whole  glory  which  his  works  deserve ;  not 
though  they  should  spend  an  eternity  in  praising  him. 
All  they  can  do  is,  to  give  him  all  that  they  have,  to  ac- 
knowledge that  he  alone  is  worthy  to  be  praised,  that 
all  glory  and  honor  are  his  due,  and  to  combine  all  their 
powers,  and  all  their  affections  and  exertions  in  forming 
one  refulgent  unequalled  crown,  not  to  be  placed  on  his 
head,  for  it  would  be  unworthy,  but  to  be  cast  at  his 
feet.  When  all  creatures  shall  unite  in  doing  this, 
when  they  shall  all  fear,  and  admire,  and  love,  and 
serve,  and  obey,  and  thank,  and  praise,  Jehovah,  with 
their  whole  heart,  and  soul,  and  mind,  and  strength, 
then,  and  not  till  then,  will  they  obey  the  command 
which  calls  upon  them,  to  give  him  the  glory  which  is 
due  to  his  name.  This  is  done  in  heaven.  There 
every  heart  is  filled  to  overflowing  with  all  holy  affec- 
tions ;  every  tongue  is  loud  in  his  praise ;  every  crown 
is  cast  at  his  feet;  saints,  angels,  and  archangels  are 
all  prostrate  before  him.  And  thus  it  ought  to  be  on 
earth.  Thus  it  would  be,  were  not  men  alienated 
from  God  by  sin,  and  blind  to  the  dories  of  his  na- 
ture, his  character,  and  his  works.  We  have  not  ex- 
hibited, nor  even  mentioned,  the  ten  thousandth  part 
of  his  glories,  nor  of  his  just  claims  to  receive  glory 
from  his  intelligent  creatures.    But  we  must  leave  the 


312 


GLORY  DUE  TO  JEHOVAH. 


subject,  all  imperfect  and  unfinished  as  it  is,  and  con- 
clude with  a  few  inferences  and  reflections. 

1 .  Does  God  require  nothing  more  of  his  creatures 
than  the  glory  which  is  due  to  him  on  account  of  his  na- 
ture, character,  offices,  and  works  ?  O,  then,  how  rea- 
sonable, how  just,  are  his  requisitions.  He  merely  re- 
quires the  payment  of  a  just  debt,  a  debt  far  more  justly 
due,  than  any  debt  which  was  ever  paid  by  man  to  man, 
by  children  to  their  parents,  by  subjects  to  their  prince. 
How  unreasonable  then,  is  it  to  complain  of  his  requisi- 
tions !  How  ungrateful,  cruel,  and  unjust  to  refuse  to 
comply  with  them  !  How  inconceivable  the  guilt  which 
men  thus  incur ! 

2.  Is  all  the  glory  which  has  been  mentioned  due 
unto  God's  name,  and  ought  it,  in  strict  justice,  to  have 
been  ascribed  unto  him  by  men,  ever  since  man  began 
to  exist  ?  How  immeasurably  great  then  is  the  debt 
which  our  world  has  contracted,  and  under  the  burden  of 
which  it  now  groans  !  During  every  day  and  every  hour, 
which  has  elapsed  since  the  apostacy  of  man,  this  debt 
has  been  increasing ;  for  every  day  and  every  hour  all 
men  ought  to  have  given  unto  Jehovah  the  glory  which 
is  due  to  his  name.  But  no  man  has  ever  done  this 
fully.  And  a  vast  proportion  of  our  race  have  never 
done  it  at  all.  Now  the  difference  between  the  tribute 
which  men  ought  to  have  paid  to  God,  and  that  which 
they  actually  have  paid,  constitutes  the  debt  of  which 
we  are  speaking.  How  vast  then,  how  incalculable  is 
this  debt !  For  more  than  five  thousand  years  every 
individual  of  the  human  race  has  been  adding  to  it. 
Can  we  then  wonder  that  it  is  grown  up  into  the 
heavens  ?  Can  we  wonder  if  its  constantly  increasing 
weight  should  finally  sink  our  world  down  to  hell  ? 

There  is  another  point  of  view  in  which  our  con- 
templation of  the  debt  may  assist  us  to  compute  its 
magnitude,  or  rather  convince  us  that  it  is,  beyond 
computation,  great.  Compare  the  blessings  which 
have  descended  from  heaven  to  earth,  with  the  re- 
turns which  have  ascended  from  earth  to  heaven. 


GLORY  DUE  TO  JEHOVAH.  313 

The  difference  between  them  composes  the  debt  under 
consideration.  And  O,  how  immeasurable  is  this  dif- 
ference !  That  you  may  be  convinced  it  is  so,  look 
first  at  the  blessings  which  God  has  sent  from  heaven  to 
earth.  As  soon  as  the  world  was  created,  see  the  win- 
dows of  heaven  opened  above  it,  and  all  the  fulness  of  the 
Godhead  gushing  forth,  and  pouring  down  upon  it  in  a  tor- 
rent, a  flood  of  blessings,  rich,  various,  inestimable  bless- 
ings. Without  cessation  or  diminution  this  flood  has 
ever  since  continued  to  flow,  as  if  all  heaven  were  to  be 
poured  out  upon  earth,  while,  in  its  descent,  the  deluge 
divides  into  as  many  streams  as  there  are  individuals  in 
our  world ;  a  constant  stream  falls  upon  each.  My 
hearers,  were  God's  blessings  waters,  they  would  long 
ere  this  have  risen  more  than  fifteen  cubits  above  the 
summits  of  the  highest  mountains.  Now  look  at  the 
returns  which  men  have  made  for  all  this  deluge  of 
blessings.  From  a  comparatively  small  number  of  fam- 
ilies and  individuals,  scattered  here  and  there,  see  a  few 
clouds  of  incense,  a  few  imperfect  offerings,  praises  and 
thanksgivings  slowly  ascending  to  heaven.  And  is  this 
all  ?  Yes  my  hearers,  this  is  all,  all  the  returns  which 
men  have  made  to  God  for  blessings  without  number 
and  without  measure ;  and  for  the  unspeakable  gift  of 
his  Son.  Need  any  thing  more  be  said  to  shew,  that  the 
debt  which  our  world  owes  to  God  is  great  beyond  all 
finite  calculation  ?  In  this  debt  every  nation  participates. 
In  this  debt  our  own  country  largely  shares.  Of  this  debt 
every  individual  present  owes  a  part.  So  far  as  the 
blessings  you  have  received  exceed  the  returns  which 
you  have  made  ;  so  far  as  each  of  you  has  failed  to 
glorify  God  to  the  utmost  extent  of  his  powers,  so  far  you 
are  indebted  to  him.  Well  then  may  each  of  us  be  rep- 
resented as  owing  God  a  debt  of  ten  thousand  talents. 
And  is  not  this  debt  sufficiently  large  ?  Will  any  one 
present  proceed  to  increase  it  by  still  neglecting  to  give 
God  the  glory  which  is  due  to  his  name  ?  Will  any 
one  still  refuse  or  neglect  to  apply  to  that  Saviour, 
through  whom  alone  the  remission  of  his  mighty  debt 
27 


314 


GLORY  DUE  TO  JEHOVAH. 


can  be  obtained  ?  Rather  let  all,  without  delay,  apply- 
to  him  for  this  purpose,  and  then  proceed  to  present 
their  bodies  and  their  souls  as  living  sacrifices  to  God, 
continually  offering  those  praises,  thanksgivings,  and 
spiritual  services,  which  are  acceptable  through  Jesus 
Christ. 

Finally ;  is  all  this  glory  due  unto  God's  name  ? 
Then  there  is  no  reason  to  fear  that  saints  and  angels 
in  heaven  will  not  have  sufficient  employment  to  occupy 
them  through  eternity.  What  God  is,  he  will  be  un- 
changeably and  eternally.  What  God  does  shall  be 
forever.  He  will  therefore  forever  continue  to  deserve 
all  the  glory  which  he  now  deserves ;  and  to  ascribe 
unto  him  this  glory  in  ceaseless  praises  and  thanksgiv- 
ings, will  constitute  the  employment,  and  the  felicity  of 
saints  and  angels  through  endless  ages.  Nor  will  this 
employment  ever  become  wearisome.  New  glories  and 
new  works  of  wonder  will  still  burst  upon  their  astonish- 
ed sight,  and  excite  in  their  bosoms  new  emotions  of 
wonder,  admiration,  gratitude  and  love ;  and  these 
emotions  it  would  pain  them  not  to  express  in  new  songs 
of  thanksgiving  and  praise.  Christian,  is  this  to  be  thine 
eternal  employment  and  felicity  ?  Is  thine  ear  destined 
to  hear,  and  thy  tongue  to  join  in,  the  songs  of  heaven  ? 
Is  thine  eternity  to  be  one  long  endless  day  of  thanks- 
giving ?  If  so,  abound  more  and  more  in  this  blessed 
work  ;  be  jealous  for  the  honor  of  the  Lord  your  God, 
and  with  increasing  diligence  and  fervor  and  constancy, 
give  unto  him  the  glory  which  is  due  to  his  name. 


SERMON  XXII 

The  oppressed  Soul  seeking  Divine  Interposition. 


ISAIAH  XXXVIII.  14. 

O  LORD,  I  AM  OPPRESSED     UNDERTAKE  FOR  ME. 

These  words  compose  part  of  a  psalm,  penned  by 
Hezekiah,  king  of  Judah,  on  his  miraculous  recovery 
from  a  dangerous  disease.  In  the  first  part  of  this  psalm, 
he  describes  the  views  and  feelings  which  occupied  his 
mind  when  he  saw  himself  apparently  on  the  brink  of  the 
grave.  From  this  description,  it  appears  that,  though 
he  had  been  one  of  the  best  kings  with  which  God  ever 
blessed  a  nation,  he  viewed  his  sins  as  great  and  numer- 
ous, and  felt  that  he  was,  on  account  of  them,  justly  ex- 
posed to  the  divine  displeasure.  Hence  death  appeared 
dreadful  to  him,  and  his  dread  of  it  was  increased  by  the 
darkness  which,  at  that  time,  before  Christ  had  brought 
life  and  immortality  to  light,  hung  over  a  future  state. 
Hence  too  he  was  assailed  by  fearful  apprehensions  of 
God's  anger.  I  reckoned,  says  he,  that  as  a  lion  he  will  , 
crush  me  in  pieces  ;  he  will  cut  me  off  with  pining  sick- 
ness ;  from  day  to  night  he  will  make  an  end  of  me.  In 
consequence  of  these  apprehensions  he  could  neither 
look  nor  ask  for  help  from  God  with  confidence,  as  he 
had  been  accustomed  to  do.  My  eyes,  he  exclaims, 
fail  upward  ;  that  is,  I  cannot  look  upward,  cannot  look 
to  heaven  for  relief  and  consolation,  as  I  formerly  could. 
And  when  he  endeavored  to  pray,  he  found  that  he  of- 
fered nothing  which  deserved  the  name  of  prayer  ;  for 


316 


THE  OPPRESSED  SOUL 


unbelief  and  despondency  prevailed.  Like  a  crane  or 
a  swallow,  says  he,  so  did  I  chatter  ;  that  is,  my  prayers 
were  little  better  than  the  complaints  of  a  bird  entangled 
in  the  snare  of  the  fowler.  Finally,  he  gave  up  all  hope, 
and  cried  in  bitterness  of  soul,  I  shall  not  see  the  Lord, 
even  the  Lord  in  the  land  of  the  living.  But  to  the 
righteous  there  ariseth  light  in  the  darkness.  There  did 
in  this  case.  And  as  soon  as  it  began  to  dawn,  faith 
revived,  and  he  cried,  though  still  with  a  feeble  voice, 
O  Lord,  I  am  oppressed  ;  undertake  for  me  ;  that  is, 
be  my  help  and  deliverer,  make  my  cause  thine  own, 
and  do  all  that  for  me  which  thou  seest  to  be  necessary. 

My  hearers,  if  language  was  ever  uttered  by  man, 
which  all  men  ought  to  adopt ;  if  a  petition  was  ever 
presented  by  man,  which  all  men  ought  to  present  before 
the  mercy-seat,  it  is  this.  It  is  the  very  language  which 
every  soul  does  in  effect  adopt,  when  it  applies  to  Jesus 
Christ  in  the  exercise  of  faith.  Would  to  God,  I  could 
persuade  you  all  to  adopt  it  from  the  heart.  Then 
would  your  salvation  be  secure.  I  must  make  the  at- 
tempt, though  I  must  confess  with  very  feeble  hopes  of 
success.    With  this  view  I  shall  endeavor  to  show, 

I.  That  you  all  need  some  one  to  undertake  for  you  ; 
in  other  words,  you  need  some  one  to  make  your  cause 
his  own,  and  to  assist  you  in  performing  that  work,  on 
the  performance  of  which,  your  everlasting  happiness 
depends.  You  are  not  indeed,  like  Hezekiah,  on  the 
bed  of  sickness,  and  apparently  on  the  brink  of  the  grave ; 
but  you  soon  will  be  there  ;  and  even  before  that  time 
arrives,  as  well  as  then,  and  afterwards,  you  will  need, 
greatly  need  some  one  to  make  your  cause  and  your 
work  his  own.  But,  more  particularly,  you  need  some 
one  to  undertake, 

}.  To  support  and  comfort  you  under  the  trials  of  life, 
and  carry  you  safely  through  them.  None  of  you  know 
how  numerous  or  how  severe  may  be  the  trials  which 
await  you.  This  remark  applies  with  particular  force  to 
all  who  have  not  far  passed  the  meridian  of  life.  If  you 
live  to  old  age,  your  afflictions,  in  all  probability,  will  not 


SEEKING  DIVINE  INTERPOSITION. 


317 


be  few.    One  thing  at  least  is  almost  certain.    If  you 
live  to  that  age,  you  will  outlive  nearly  all  the  friends 
and  companions  of  your  youth ;  nearly  all  whose  affection 
and  society  now  make  life  pleasant.    One  after  another, 
they  will  drop  into  the  grave,  and  each  successive  loss 
will  give  your  heart  a  pang.    Some,  who  are  now  your 
friends,  will  become  your  enemies,  or  at  least  their  friend* 
ship  for  you  will  cool,  and  this  may  give  you  a  pang  still 
more  severe.    Some  of  you  will  lose  children,  perhaps 
all  your  children  ;  others  will  see  their  children  conduct 
in  such  a  manner,  that  they  will  often  wish,  though  in 
vain,  that  they  had  been  written  childless ;  others  will 
meet  with  pecuniary  losses  and  disappointments,  and 
perhaps  be  constrained  to  leave  their  children  almost  or 
altogether  unprovided  for.    Look  back  upon  the  history 
of  this  town  for  a  few  years,  and  you  will  not  doubt  that, 
some  who  are  now  wealthy  will  be  called  in  their  old 
age  to  struggle  with  want,  and  die  in  poverty.  And 
those  who  escape  these  trials  must  encounter  the  un- 
avoidable evils  which  wait  upon  declining  years.  You 
must  suffer  pain  and  sickness,  your  senses  and  faculties 
will  decline  \  you  will  be  eclipsed  by  younger  rivals  ; 
you  will  begin  to  feel  that  you  are  becoming  less  useful, 
and  perhaps  less  respected  ;  you  will  gradually  lose  your 
capacity  for  exertion,  and  for  enjoyment;  and  every 
year,  as  it  passes  over  your  heads,  will  take  something 
from  your  diminishing  gratifications,  and  add  something 
to  your  increasing  infirmities.    Youth,  beauty,  vivacity 
and  vigor  will  be  gone  neve?  to  return  ;  and  the  certain- 
ty that  death  is  not  far  distant  will,  unless  you  are  pre- 
pared for  it,  embitter  your  reflections,  and  prevent  you 
from  drawing  comfort  from  within.    Such  is  the  com- 
mon lot  of  man.    But  some  of  you  will  doubtless  meet 
with  afflictions  still  more  severe, — and  all  are  liable  to 
meet  with  them, — afflictions,  which  will  wring  your 
hearts  with  agony,  and  tempt  you  to  seek  relief  by  for- 
bidden means.    And  do  you  not  then,  need  some  one  to 
undertake  that  he  will  support  and  comfort  you  under 
these  trials,  that  he  will  make  them  ail  work  together  for 


318 


THE  OPPRESSED  SOUL 


your  good,  and  finally  bring  you  out  purified  and  refined, 
as  gold  out  of  the  furnace  ?  When  relatives,  children, 
and  friends  shall  die,  or  prove  unkind,  will  you  need  no 
one  to  supply  their  place  in  your  affections,  and  console 
you  for  their  loss  ?  When  earthly  possessions  are  taken 
away,  will  you  need  no  one  who  can  give  you  durable 
riches  ?  When  your  body,  or  your  mind,  or  both  to- 
gether, shall  be  diseased,  will  you  need  no  kind  physi- 
cian to  administer  relief  ?  Finally,  when  youth  and 
sprightliness  and  vigor  are  gone,  when  heart  and  flesh 
fail,  will  you  not  need  some  one  who  can  be  the  strength 
of  your  heart,  and  your  portion  forever.  Yes,  my  hear- 
ers, my  frail,  dying  hearers,  you  do,  indeed  you  do,  need 
some  one  who  can  undertake  to  perform  all  these  things 
for  you. 

2.  You  need  someone  who  can  undertake  to  be  your 
guide  through  life.  The  Scriptures  assure  us,  that  it  is 
not  in  man  who  walketh,  to  direct  his  own  steps,  and  a 
very  limited  observation  will  convince  us  that  this  asser- 
tion is  strictly  true.  We  cannot  look  around  us  without 
seeing  numberless  instances,  in  which  passion,  prejudice 
and  evil  example  lead  men  astray  ;  and  we  must  be  very 
young  indeed,  or  very  much  favored,  if  the  same  causes 
have  not  already  led  us  into  errors.  Even  if  men  were 
less  under  the  influence  of  these  pernicious  counsellors 
than  they  are,  yet  as  they  cannot  look  into  futurity,  nor 
foresee  the  consequences  of  events,  they  would  greatly  n 
need  a  guide  who  can  do  both.  Such  a  guide  is  neces- 
sary even  to  our  happiness  in  the  present  life.  For  one 
proof  of  this?i look  at  the  connections  which  men  form. 
As  the  young  come  forward  on  the  stage  of  life,  they 
connect  themselves,  and  can  scarcely  avoid  connecting 
themselves  in  various  ways  with  their  fellow  creatures- 
They  choose  associates,  friends,  partners  in  business, 
and  perhaps  partners  for  life.  Much  of  their  success 
and  happiness  in  the  world  depends  on  their  making  a 
wise  choice.  Yet,  as  they  cannot  search  the  heart,  they 
are  exceedingly  liable  to  be  deceived  in  the  character  of 
those  with  whom  they  form  connections,  and  to  make  a 


SEEKING  DIVINE  INTERPOSITION.  319 

choice  of  which  they  will  bitterly  repent.  They  are  es- 
pecially liable  to  such  mistakes,  because  they  form  most 
of  their  connections  in  early  life,  when  they  are  rash,  in- 
experienced, and  unacquainted  with  mankind.  And 
how  fatal  may  such  mistakes  prove.  We  may  choose 
friends  who  are  vicious  or  impious,  and  who  will  corrupt 
our  principles  or  our  morals.  We  may  choose  partners 
in  business,  who  will  prove  imprudent  or  dishonest,  and 
plunge  us  into  inextricable  embarrassments.  We  may 
ehoose  partners  for  life,  whose  temper  and  conduct  will 
make  life  a  burden.  Even  if  we  choose  those  wh  se 
characters  are  good,  we  may  be  deceived  ;  for  how 
many*  whose  morals  are  correct  in  youth,  prove  unkind 
or  licentious  or  intemperate  in  after  life.  For  proofs  of 
this,  look  at  the  many  unhappy  families  which  are  every 
where  to  be  found.  Look  at  the  many  wives  whose 
lives  are  embittered  by  husbands  improvident,  or  passion- 
ate, or  unfaithful,  or  intemperate.  Once  they  appeared 
moral,  amiable,  affectionate  ;  but  now  how  changed  ! 
Look  too  at  the  husbands  whose  peace  is  destroyed r 
whose  home  is  disturbed  by  the  temper  or  conduct  of 
their  partners  ;  and  who  are  driven  to  seek  abroad  that 
quiet  which  their  own  firesides  do  not  afford.  Now  who 
can  assure  you,  my  young  friends,  that  you  will  not  form 
connections  which  will  prove  productive  of  similar  evils  ? 
Who  can  assure  you  that  persons,  who  are  now  apparent- 
ly ali  that  you  can  wish  them  to  be,  will  not  hereafter 
adopt  vicious  courses,  and  pierce  your  hearts  through 
with  many  sorrows  ?  Surely  then  you  need  a  guide,  a 
counsellor,  who  knows  not  only  what  is  in  man,  but  what 
every  man  will  prove  to  be  in  future  life.  Without  such 
a  guide,  you  are  every  day  liable  to  mistakes  which  will 
shed  a  disastrous  influence  on  all  your  succeeding  days* 
But  if  you  need  such  a  guide  as  it  respects  this  world, 
how  much  more  as  it  respects  the  world  to  come. 
You  do  not,  I  presume,  doubt,  that  your  happiness  here- 
after will  depend  upon  the  path  which  you  pursue  here* 
Now  consider  a  moment  how  many  different  paths  pre- 
sent themselves  to  your  choice,  each  one  of  which  is 


320 


THE  OPPRESSED  SOUL 


declared  by  those  who  walk  in  it  to  be  right.  Consider 
how  numerous,  and  how  various  are  the  religious  opin- 
ions which  prevail  in  the  world,  and  in  how  different  a 
manner  different  interpreters  explain  the  Scriptures. 
Consider  too,  your  own  passions,  inclinations  and  pre- 
judices, and  how  powerful  an  influence  they  exert  to 
lead  you  astray.  Consider  that,  not  your  hearts  only, 
but  even  your  intellectual  faculties  are  injuriously.,  af- 
fected by  sin,  and  that  ten  thousand  temptations  and 
evil  examples  will  assail  you.  Now  who  is  to  guard 
you  against  all  these  evils,  who  is  to  teach  you  which 
of  all  the  ways  that  open  before  you,  is  the  only  right 
way  ?  Who  is  to  guide  you  in  that  way,  and  prevent 
you  from  turning  aside,  when  you  have  found  it  ?  Sure- 
ly you  need  some  infallible  guide  to  do  this ;  some  one 
who  can  and  will  undertake  to  instruct  and  guide  you  in 
the  way  of  peace.  Not  more  does  the  helpless  infant 
need  a  mother's  care,  than  you  need  such  a  counsellor 
and  guide.  If  any  of  you  are  still  unconvinced  of  this 
truth,  cast  your  eyes  around  upon  your  fellow  travellers, 
and  upon  those  who  have  preceded  you  in  the  journey 
of  life.  See  how  many  of  them  have  wandered  and 
lost  themselves.  Hear  the  voice  of  inspiration  assuring 
you,  that  comparatively  few  of  them  have  found  the 
straight  and  narrow  way  to  life,  and  that  none  of  them 
ever  found  it  without  a  guide.  And  are  you  wiser,  can 
you  hope  to  be  more  successful  than  all  who  have  pre- 
ceded you  ?  Can  you,  alone  and  unguided,  safely  pros- 
ecute that  journey  which  has  proved  fatal  to  so  many 
thousands  of  your  race  ? 

3.  Still  more  do  you  need  some  one  who  will  under- 
take to  afford  you  effectual  assistance  in  subduing  your 
spiritual  enemies,  the  enemies  which  oppose  your  salva- 
tion. These  enemies  are  numerous  and  powerful,  art- 
ful and  indefatigable;  they  have  already  *  enslaved  and 
destroyed  myriads  of  your  fellow  creatures,  and  no  man 
ever  overcame  them  without  assistance.  Of  these  ene- 
mies the  first  class  is  composed  of  your  own  sinful  ap- 
petites, passions,  and  inclinations.    If  you  know  any 


SEEKING  DIVINE  INTERPOSITION.  321 

thing  of  yourselves  you  know  that  there  are  adversaries 
to  your  salvation.  You  know  that  they  are  perpetually 
aiming  to  lead  you  astray,  to  carry  you  far  from  God, 
to  withdraw  your  attention  from  spiritual  and  eternal 
objects,  and  to  oppose  at  every  step  your  return  to  duty. 
You  know  that,  if  a  man  follows  where  they  lead,  he 
will  never  become  religious.  And  is  it  easy  to  avoid 
following  where  they  lead  %  Is  it  easy  to  turn  them, 
and  make  them  point  toward  heaven  ?  Is  it  easy  to 
bring  them  into  willing  subjection  to  reason  and  revela- 
tion ?  If  you  ever  made  the  attempt,  you  know  it  is 
not.  You  know  it  is  like  attempting  to  make  water  flow 
up  an  acclivity.  And  do  you  then  need  no  one  to  assist 
you  against  these  enemies  ?  enemies  who  are  seated  and 
fortified  in  your  own  bosoms,  who  are  a  part  of  your- 
selves, who  never  sleep  when  you  are  awake,  and  who 
seem  to  be  not  only  irritated  but  even  strengthened  by 
opposition  ?  Can  even  the  most  moral  young  person 
before  me  be  sure  that  these  enemies  will  not  render 
him  the  slave  of  open  vice  and  immorality  before  he 
dies  ?  Can  he  be  sure  that  his  appetites  will  not  lead 
him  to  gluttony,  intemperance  or  sensuality  1  Can  he 
be  sure  that  his  passions  will  not  betray  him  into  other 
vices  equally  ruinous  ?  No ;  and  he  who  feels  most 
confident  of  his  own  strength,  only  betrays  his  own  self- 
ignorance,  and  is  most  likely  to  fall.  Hundreds  have 
died  drunkards,  debauchees,  and  even  murderers,  who 
once  as  little  feared  becoming  such  characters  as  any  of 
you  do  now  ;  and  who,  if  their  future  conduct  had  been 
revealed  to  them,  would  have  exclaimed  with  Hazael, 
What,  is  thy  servant  a  dog,  that  he  should  do  this  great 
thing  ?  And  even  if  your  appetites  and  passions  should 
not  lead  to  open  vice,  they  may  keep  you  in  an  irreli- 
gious state,  and  thus  prevent  your  salvation. 

Another  of  these  enemies  is  the  world.  I  use  the 
term  in  its  most  extensive  sense,  as  including  all  worldly 
objects  and  worldly  men.  It  would  require  a  volume  to 
exhibit  the  various  ways  in  which  the  world,  used  in  this 
sense  opposes  your  salvation  ;  I  can  now  do  little  more 


322 


THE  OPPRESSED  SOUL 


than  hint  at  them.  I  only  ask,  do  not  the  pleasures  and 
gratifications  of  the  world  allure  you  ?  Do  not  its  honors 
and  possessions  entangle  your  affections  ?  Do  not  its 
cares  and  concerns  occupy  your  mind  ?  Does  not  the 
dread  of  its  contempt  influence  you  ?  Does  not  the 
weight  of  its  example,  the  torrent  of  its  customs  press 
on  you  with  a  force  almost  irresistible  ?  May  not  our 
Saviour  say  of  thousands  in  every  age,  as  St.  Paul  said 
of  Demas,  They  have  forsaken  me,  having  loved  this 
present  world.  In  a  word,  does  not  the  world  weigh 
almost  as  heavily  upon  the  souls  of  men,  as  this  globe 
itself  would  weigh  upon  their  bodies,  were  they  placed 
under  its  pressure  ?  Say  then,  frail,  sinful  mortal,  can 
you  unassisted  bear  up  against  this  pressure  ?  Can  you, 
single  handed,  withstand  a  world  in  arms,  a  world  too, 
which  has  so  strong  a  party  in  your  own  breasts,  ever 
ready  to  betray  you  into  its  power  ?  My  friends,  the 
man  who  supposes  that  he  needs  no  assistance  against 
this  enemy,  no  mighty  ally  to  undertake  for  him,  never 
attempted  to  subdue  it,  but  has  ever  been,  and  still  is, 
its  willing  captive,  its  slave. 

I  might  mention  the  tempter,  him  whom  inspiration 
emphatically  styles  the  adversary,  as  another  enemy 
who  opposes  your  salvation ;  but  those  whom  I  am  ad- 
dressing would  probably  believe  nothing  that  I  could  say 
on  this  subject,  even  though  I  should  enforce  it  by  quo- 
tations from  the  Scriptures.  I  must  however  remind 
you  of  the  inspired  assertion,  that  those  who  would  be 
soldiers  of  Jesus  Christ,  the  Captain  of  our  salvation, 
must  wrestle  not  only  against  flesh  and  blood,  not  only 
against  their  own  sinful  passions  and  the  opposition  of 
sinful  men,  but  against  principalities,  against  powers, 
against  spiritual  wickedness,  or  the  spirits  of  wickedness. 
And  I  must  assure  you  that  those,  who  were  possess- 
ed by  evil  spirits  in  our  Saviour's  time,  would  as  soon 
have  freed  themselves  from  these  tyrants,  as  any  man 
unassisted  will  free  himself  from  those  snares  of  the 
devil,  in  which  he  takes  and  holds  men  captive  at  his 
will.  But, 


SEEKING  DIVINE  INTERPOSITION.  323 


4.  Most  of  all  do  you  need  some  one  who  can  and 
who  will  undertake  to  plead  your  cause  in  heaven,  and 
effect  a  reconciliation  between  you  and  your  justly  of- 
fended God.    You  are  all,  my  hearers,  sinners.  That 
you  are  so,  at  least  in  some  degree,  none  of  you  will 
deny  ;  and  if  you  are  sinners,  even  in  the  smallest  de- 
gree, if  you  have  ever  committed  one  sin,  you  are  con- 
demned by  that  law,  of  which  every  sin  is  a  transgres- 
sion ;  your  lives  are  forfeited,  nor  can  you  ever  redeem 
the  forfeiture.    Though  you  should  offer  thousands  of 
sacrifices,  and  ten  thousands  of  rivers  of  oil ;  though 
you  should  give  your  first-born  for  your  transgression, 
the  fruit  of  your  bodies  for  the  sin  of  your  souls,  it  would 
not  avail.    The  sentence  is  pronounced,  and  the  decree 
has  gone  forth,  it  is  graven  in  the  records  of  heaven,  and 
has  from  thence  been  copied  into  the  Bible,  that  by  the 
deeds  of  the  law  shall  no  flesh  be  justified,  that  in  the 
sight  of  God  no  man  living  can  be  justified  by  any  works 
or  merits  of  his  own.    No  ;  the  honor  of  God's  violated 
law  must  be  secured,  the  claims  of  inflexible  justice  must 
be  satisfied,  a  sufficient  atonement  must  be  made  for  sin, 
a  mediator,  who  can  negotiate  peace  between  God  and 
the  sinner  on  proper  terms  must  be  found,  an  interces- 
sor, an  advocate  must  be  provided,  whose  voice  can  be 
heard  in  heaven,  who  can  approach  the  burning,  unsul- 
lied throne  of  the  Eternal,  to  plead  your  cause  ;  who 
can  enforce  his  plea  by  considerations,  the  efficacy  of 
which  God  will  acknowledge  ;  who  can  throw  the  broad 
shield  of  his  merits  over  your  unworthiness  and  your  sins, 
and  on  the  ground  of  those  merits  obtain  your  pardon, 
your  acceptance,  your  salvation.    Unless  this  can  be 
done,  unless  such  a  mediator  and  intercessor  will  under- 
take for  you,  and  make  your  cause  his  own,  the  cause 
must  go  against  you,  the  sentence  of  condemnation  al- 
ready pronounced  must  stand  irreversible.    For  your- 
selves you  will  be  unable  to  plead.    For  yourselves, you 
will  not  dare  to  plead,  for  every  mouth  shall  be  stopped, 
and  the  whole  world  stand  guilty  before  God.    O,  then, 
how  greatly  do  you  need  some  one  to  undertake  for  you. 


324 


THE  OPPRESSED  SOUL 


When  death  approaches,  with  judgment,  and  eternity- 
just  ready  to  burst  upon  you,  how  will  you  need  one  to 
whisper  peace  to  your  troubled  conscience,  and  soothe 
you  with  assurances  that  he  will  make  your  cause  his 
own.  How  much  will  you  need  one  to  support  and 
comfort  and  cheer  you,  when  passing  through  the  dark 
valley  of  the  shadow  of  death.  And  when  you  shall 
stand  naked  and  defenceless  before  the  eye  of  your 
Judge,  that  eye  from  the  terrors  of  which  the  heavens 
and  the  earth  will  flee  affrighted ;  when  the  books 
shall  be  opened  in  which  all  your  sins  are  recorded, 
and  when  your  speechless  tongue  will  have  no  word  to 
utter  in  arrest  of  judgment,  how  much  will  you  need 
one  who  can  say  with  authority,  Spare  that  sinner,  I 
have  undertaken  to  answer  for  him,  I  have  made  his 
cause  my  own. 

Having  thus  shown  that  you  all  need  some  one  to 
undertake  for  you,  I  would  proceed  to  show, 

II.  That  there  is  no  one  on  earth  or  in  heaven,  who 
is  both  able  and  willing  to  undertake  for  you,  except  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ.  On  this  point  the  Scriptures  are 
full  and  explicit.  They  assure  us  that  he  alone  is  the 
light  of  the  world  ;  that  he  is  the  Shepherd  and  Bishop 
of  souls ;  that  no  man  cometh  to  the  Father  but  by 
him  ;  that  it  is  his  grace  which  is  sufficient  ior  us  ;  that 
he  is  the  only  Mediator  between  God  and  man,  and 
that  there  is  no  other  name  given  under  heaven  among 
men  whereby  we  can  be  saved.  If  you  recollect  the 
several  things  mentioned  in  this  discourse,  which  he, 
who  would  undertake  for  us,  must  do,  and  the  various 
offices  which  he  must  sustain,  you  will,  I  think,  be  con- 
vinced of  this  truth.  You  will  be  convinced  that  no 
one  can  possess  both  the  ability  and  the  disposition  to 
undertake  for  you  who  is  not,  at  once,  God  and  man. 
He  must  be  God  or  he  cannot  have  the  ability  to  do  it. 
He  must  be  omniscient  and  omnipresent,  or  how  could 
he  teach  and  guide  with  infallible  skill  millions  of  be- 
ings in  different  parts  of  the  world,  and  at  the  same  time 
manage  their  concerns  in  heaven  ?    He  must  be  Al- 


SEEKING  DIVINE  INTERPOSITION.  325 

mighty,  or  how  could  he  support  and  comfort  these  mil- 
lions under  all  their  various  trials,  make  them  victorious 
over  all  their  enemies,  and  finally  raise  their  bodies  and 
souls  to  heaven.  He  must  be  infinite  in  goodness,  con- 
descension, patience  and  compassion,  or  he  would  never 
consent  to  undertake  for  creatures  so  unworthy  and  per- 
verse as  we  are.  And  while  it  is  necessary  that  he,  who 
would  undertake  for  us  must  possess  these  perfections 
of  God,  it  is  equally  necessary  that  he  should  be  man. 
No  one  could  perform  the  work  of  a  mediator  between 
God  and  man,  who  was  not  himself  God  and  man  in  one 
person  ;  nor  could  any  other  make  satisfaction  or  atone- 
ment for  our  sins.  He  who  would  make  atonement  for 
the  sin  of  man,  must  perfectly  obey  the  divine  law  and 
suffer  its  penalty.  He  must  die,  must  shed  his  blood  in 
our  stead  ;  for  inspiration  declares  that,  without  the  shed- 
ding of  blood,  there  is  no  remission  of  sin.  But  as  God, 
Christ  could  not  die.  As  God,  he  had  no  blood  to  shed. 
It  was  therefore  necessary  that  he  should  assume  a  na- 
ture which  could  die  ;  a  nature  in  which  he  could  shed 
his  blood  ;  the  nature  of  those  beings  who  had  sinned, 
and  for  whom  atonement  was  to  be  made.  Agreeably, 
we  are  told  that,  forasmuch  as  those  for  whom  he  died 
were  flesh  and  blood,  he  also  took  part  of  the  same,  that 
through  death,  he  might  destroy  him  that  had  the  power 
of  death.  And  while  his  human  nature*  enabled  him  to 
die,  his  divinity  gave  woAh  and  efficacy  to  his  death, 
and  qualified  him  to  plead  for  his  people  efficaciously,  as 
one  who  had  authority.  In  him  alone  then,  who  was 
Immanuel,  God  with  us,  God  manifest  in  the  flesh,  can 
we  find  one  who  is  qualified  to  undertake  for  us.  In 
him  alone  do  we  find  one,  who  can  do  all  that  for  our 
bodies  and  our  souls,  for  time  and  for  eternity,  which 
our  welfare  requires.    And  all  this,  I  remark,  " 

III.  He  will,  he  does  undertake  to  do  for  every  one 
who  applies  to  him  in  the  exercise  of  faith.  To  every 
one,  however  vile,  sinful,  guilty,  and  wretched,  who  in 
faith  comes  to  him  crying,  Lord,  I  am  oppressed,  ruined, 
lost,  undertake  for  me,  his  promise  is  sure.  He  never 
28 


326 


THE  OPPRESSED  SOUL 


did  refuse,  he  never  will  refuse  to  hear  the  cry  of  such 
a  suppliant.  Him  that  cometh  unto  me,  he  says,  I  will 
in  no  wise  cast  out.  To  every  one  that  thus  comes  to 
him,  his  language  is,  What  wilt  thou  that  I  should  do  for 
thee  ?  Wouldst  thou  be  enlightened,  instructed,  guid- 
ed ?  Follow  me,  and  I  will  teach  thee  the  good  and  the 
right  way  ;  I  will  guide  thee  into  all  truth,  I  will  guide 
thee  even  unto  death.  Wouldst  thou  be  supported 
and  consoled  under  the  various  trials  which  await 
thee  in  life,  and  carried  safely  through  them  ?  Trust 
in  me  ;  and  I  will  be  thy  comforter  ;  I  will  even 
cause  thee  to  glory  in  affliction,  and  to  be  joyful 
in  tribulation.  Wouldst  thou  be  assisted  to  overcome 
thy  sinful  propensities,  the  world,  and  the  tempter  ? 
Rely  on  me,  and  my  grace  shall  be  sufficient  for  thee, 
and  make  thee  more  than  conqueror.  Wouldst  thou 
have  some  one  to  care  for  thine  eternal  interests,  and 
plead  thy  cause  in  heaven  ?  Commit  it  to  me,  and  1  will 
plead  it  successfully,  for  I  possess  all  power  in  heaven 
and  on  earth,  and  ever  live  to  make  intercession  for  all 
who  trust  in  me.  Wouldst  thou  have  thy  soul  saved 
with  an  everlasting  salvation  ?  Entrust  it  to  my  care, 
and  I  will  undertake  to  save  it,  in  defiance  of  all  that 
can  oppose.  Cast  all  thy  concerns,  and  care,  and 
wants,  upon  me,  and  I  will  undertake  to  conduct  and 
provide  for  them  all ;  I  will  make  with  thee  an  everlast- 
ing covenant,  well  ordered  in  all  things  and  sure. 

And  now,  my  hearers,  are  not  your  understandings 
at  least  convinced  that  you  need  some  one  to  under- 
take for  you  ?  Are  you  not  convinced  that  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  alone  can  effectually  undertake  for  you  ? 
And  are  you  not  convinced  that,  if  you  apply  to  him  in 
the.exercise  of  faith,  he  will  undertake  for  you  ?  Why 
will  you  not  all  then  thus  apply  to  him  ?  Why  not  im- 
itate St.  Paul,  and  be  enabled  to  say  with  him,  I  know 
whom  1  have  believed,  and  am  persuaded  that  he  is  able 
to  keep  that  which  I  have  committed  to  him  against 
that  day.  What  St.  Paul  had  committed  to  Christ  was 
his  soul  with  all  its  concerns.  And  he  knew  that,  in 
consequence  of  his  committing  it  to  Christ,  Christ  had 


SEEKING  DIVINE  INTERPOSITION. 


327 


undertaken  to  keep  it,  to  save  it :  an  undertaking  which 
he  would  infallibly  accomplish.  On  this  all  the  apos- 
tle's hope  of  salvation  was  founded.  And  no  man  can 
found  a  scriptural  hope  of  salvation  on  any  other  ground. 
If  St.  Paul,  after  all  his  sufferings  and  sacrifices  and  la- 
bors, would  trust  in  nothing  but  this,  surely  we  can 
safely  trust  in  nothing  else.  O,  then,  be  persuaded  to 
cry  from  the  heart  in  the  language  of  our  text,  Lord, 
I  am  oppressed  ;  undertake  for  me.  By  all  the  scenes 
of  sorrow,  and  trial  and  affliction  through  which  you  must 
pass ;  by  all  the  dangerous  mistakes,  the  fatal  errors 
into  which,  as  frail,  fallible,  short-sighted  creatures  you 
are  liable  to  fall ;  by  the  number,  malice,  and  strength 
of  the  enemies  which  oppose  your  salvation,  and  which 
must  be  overcome ;  by  all  the  sin  of  which  you  have 
been  guilty,  and  for  which  pardon  must  be  obtained  ; 
by  your  dying  agonies ;  by  that  dread  hour  in  which 
you  must  appear  before  God  in  judgment,  I  conjure 
you  to  secure,  without  delay,  a  comforter,  a  guide,  a 
protector,  an  intercessor,  a  Saviour,  by  applying  believ- 
ingly  to  Jesus  Christ  to  undertake  for  you. 

But  perhaps  some  of  you  will  say,  we  have  already 
done  this.  We  have  long  since  believed  in  Christ  for 
salvation,  we  rely  upon  the  mercy  of  God  through  him  \ 
we  have  entrusted  all  our  spiritual  and  immortal  inter- 
ests to  his  care,  and  therefore  we  need  feel  no  anxiety 
respecting  them.  We  trust  that  we  are  safe,  and  that 
all  is  well.  My  hearers,  these  things  are  easily  said, 
but  thousands  say  them  who  never  trusted  in  Christ, 
and  for  whom  he  never  undertook.  To  such  an  one 
an  apostle  said,  Thou  sayest,  I  have  faith  ;  but  wilt 
thou  know,  O  vain  man,  that  faith  without  works  is 
dead  ?  The  faith  which  applies  to  Christ  is  a  living  faith, 
that  is,  a  faith  which  is  alive,  and  which  makes  its  pos- 
sessor alive  in  the  service  of  God  ;  a  faith  which,  while 
it  relies  on  Christ  alone,  is  as  active,  and  diligent,  and 
watchful,  and  prayerful,  and  self-denying,  as  if  it  relied 
entirely  on  itself.  Let  those,  whose  pretended  faith  is 
not  of  this  kind,  remember  that  Christ  saves  his  people. 


328 


THE  OPPRESSED  SOUL  &C 


not  simply  by  working  for  them,  but  by  working  in 
them,  and  thus  both  disposing  and  enabling  them  to 
work  out  their  own  salvation.  When  he  undertakes  for 
a  sinner,  he  undertakes  not  to  save  him  without  love,  re- 
pentance, obedience,  and  a  diligent,  humble  use  of  the 
means  of  grace,  but  he  undertakes  to  make  him  perform 
all  these,  duties.  Be  assured  then  that,  if  you  live  in  the 
neglect  of  these  duties,  Christ  has  not  undertaken  for 
you,  and  that,  of  course,  you  never  truly  applied  to  him. 
But  apply  to  him  in  sincerity,  and  you  will  soon  find  a 
change  in  yourselves,  which  will  prove  that  he  has  un- 
dertaken for  you,  that  he  has  begun  to  work  in  your 
hearts,  that  he  is  guiding  you  into  a  knowledge  of  the 
truth,  that  he  is  interceding  for  you  at  the  bar  of  God. 
Yes,  truly  believe  in  him,  and  you  will  soon  have  evi- 
dence that  he  has  undertaken  for  you ;  for  every  one 
that  believeth  hath  the  witness  in  himself. 

My  hearers,  will  you  not  be  persuaded  to  do  this  ? 
Must  we  have  the  pain  of  seeing  you  struggling  with 
afflictions,  led  astray  by  errors,  subdued  and  carried 
captive  by  your  spiritual  enemies,  and  finally  dying 
without  hope,  and  appearing  before  God  without  an  in- 
tercessor, when  such  a  comforter,  teacher,  helper,  and 
intercessor  as  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  offers  to  undertake 
for  you  ?  If  I  can  prevail  with  no  others,  let  me,  at 
least,  hope  to  prevail  with  those  of  you  who  are  afilicted, 
with  those  of  you  who  feel  ignorant,  with  those  of  you 
who  feel  burdened  by  conscious  sinfulness  and  guilt, 
with  those  who  are  asking,  What  shall  we  do  to  be 
saved.  To  all  such  this  ought  to  prove  a  word  in  sea- 
son. O,  let  them  receive  it  as  such.  Let  them  at 
once  repair  to  the  almighty  and  compassionate  Saviour 
of  sinners,  and  earnestly  cry,  Lord  Jesus,  have  mercy 
on  us,  we  are  oppressed. 


SERMON  XXIII. 

An  unjust  Imputation  repelled  by  Jehovah, 


JEREMIAH  II.  31. 

HAVE  I  BEEN  A  WILDERNESS  TO  ISRAEL  I  A  LAND  OF  DARKNESS  ? 

To  an  ingenuous  mind  God  never  appears  so  irre- 
sistible, so  overpowering,  as  when  he  addresses  his 
creatures  in  the  language  of  tender  expostulation  He 
may  speak  in  the  loftiest  accents  of  uncontrollable  au- 
thority and  almighty  power and  such  a  mind,  thonga 
awed,  will  too  often  hesitate  to  yield  obedience.  He 
may  utter  the  language  of  severe  rebuke,  and  terrible 
denunciation ;  his  reproofs  and  threatenings  may  de- 
scend from  heaven  like  a  tempest  of  fire  ;  but  the  heart 
wrapped  up  in  its  own  adamantine  hardness,  will  brave 
the  storm  with  sullen,  unrelenting*  and  .even  apparently 
increasing  obduracy.    But  when,  laying  aside  the  right- 
ful claims  of  his  authority,  and  the  terrors  of  his  wrath, 
God  comes  in  the  meek  majesty  of  injured  excellence, 
and  unrequited  kindness,  to  expostulate  with  his  offend- 
ing creatures,  every  heart,  which  has  a  particle  of  in- 
genuousness in  its  composition,  relents,  melts,  and  falls 
contrite  at  his  feet,  overcome  by  the  omnipotence  of 
love.    Did  all  men  possess  such  a  disposition,  he  would 
seldom  address  them  in  any  other  language,  and  even 
now,  destitute  of  it  as  they  naturally  are,  he  condescends 
occasionally  to  employ  it.    One  instance  of  its  use  we 
have  in  our  text,  where,  addressing  his  ancient  people, 
God  says,  Have  I  been  n  wilderness  to  Israel  ?  This 


28* 


330 


AN  UNJUST  IMPUTATION 


language  evidently  intimates  that  they  had  regarded  and 
treated  him  as  such  ;  and  at  the  same  time  indirectly 
asks,  whether  they  had  any  good  reasons  for  regarding 
and  treating  him  in  this  manner  ?  Had  he  indeed 
been  no  better  to  them  than  a  wilderness,  a  land  of 
darkness  ?  a  question,_this,  which  it  was  much  more 
easy  for  him  to  ask,  than  for  Israel  to  answer. 

My  hearers,  we  may,  we  should,  consider  our  God 
and  Redeemer  as  still  addressing,  in  similar  language 
all  who,  while,  like  Israel,  they  are  favored  with  his 
distinguishing  blessings,  like  Israel  treat  him  as  if  he  had 
been  to  them  only  a  wilderness,  a  land  of  darkness. 
Especially  should  we  consider  him  as  thus  addressing 
those  of  his  professing  people,  who  have  treated  him  in 
this  manner.  And  are  there  none  such  among  us  ? 
Should  the  symbols  before  us  be  transformed  into  the 
mangled  body  which  they  represent,  and  endowed  with 
life  and  speech,  should  our  crucified  Redeemer  appear 
standing  upon  that  table,  bearing  the  marks  of  the  thorns, 
the  scourge,  and  the  cross  ;  and  look  round  upon  this  as- 
sembly with  an  omniscient  eye,  as  he  once  looked  upon 
Peter,  would  he  find  no  professed  disciples  to  whom  he 
might  justly  say,  Have  I  been  a  wilderness  to  you,  a 
land  of  darkness?  If  not,  why  have  you  treated  me 
as  such  ?  That  every  one  may  be  able  to  answer  these 
questions  with  respect  to  himself,  it  is  necessary, 

I.  To  show  when  professed  Christians  expose  them- 
selves to  the  charge  which  our  text  implies,  or,  in  other 
words,  when  they  treat  their  God  and  Redeemer  as  if 
he  were  to  them  a  wilderness,  a  land  of  darkness. 

The  mention  of  a  wilderness,  especially  of  a  wilder- 
ness, as  it  appears  at  night,  when  darkness  prevails, 
suggests  to  us  ideas  of  dreariness,  solitude  and  gloom  ; 
of  a  place,  where  there  is  nothing  to  cheer,  to  nourish, 
or  shelter  us,  where  numberless  obstacles  impede  the 
wanderer's  progress,  and  through  which  there  is  no  dis- 
coverable path.  In  fine,  we  regard  it  as  a  place,  which  no 
one  would  choose  to  visit,  unless  impelled  by  necessity, 
and  from  which  every  one  would  wish  to  escape,  as  scon 


REPELLED   BY  JEHOVAH. 


331 


as  circumstances  should  permit.  And  is  it  possible, 
perhaps  some  will  ask,  that  any  man,  who  professes  to 
be  a  disciple  of  Christ,  can  regard  his  God  and  Re- 
deemer in  this  light  ?  Yes,  my  hearers,  it  is  possible; 
Every  declining  professor  of  religion,  every  one  who 
serves  God  with  reluctance  ;  who  does  not  find  pleas- 
ure in  his  service,  regards  him  precisely  in  this  light, 
and  treats  him  as  if  he  were  a  wilderness,  a  land  of 
darkness.  When  a  professor  becomes  slack  and  remiss 
in  waiting  upon  God  ,  careless  in  walking  with  him,  and 
negligent  in  seeking  communion  with  him,  does  he  not 
practically  say,  God  is,  to  me,  a  wilderness  ?  The  path 
in  which  he  requires  me  to  walk  is  adorned  with  no 
flowers,  it  furnishes  no  fruits.  When  he  enters  his  clos- 
et with  reluctance,  enters  it  merely  because  conscience 
with  her  scourge  impels  ;  when  he  reads  the  Scriptures 
without  interest,  when  he  repeats  prayers  without  feel- 
ing, when  the  minutes  spent  in  these  duties  seem  long, 
and  he  is  eager  to  leave  his  closet,  that  he  may  engage 
in  more  pleasing  worldly  pursuits,  does  he  not  say,  as 
plainly  as  feelings  and  actions  can  say,  God  is  a  wilder- 
ness ;  the  place  to  which  I  retire  for  the  purpose  of  wor- 
shipping liim,  is  a  place  of  darkness,  a  place  which  has 
no  attractions  ?  We  read  of  Doeg  the  Edomite,  that  he 
was  on  a  certain  occasion  at  the  tabernacle  detained 
before  the  Lord.  The  expression  is  remarkable.  He 
was  detained  before  the  Lord.  This  language  forcibly 
intimates,  that  he  was  there  reluctantly  ;  that  he  thought 
the  time  long,  and  would  have  preferred  to  be  in  some 
other  place.  Now  he  evidently  regarded  the  place 
where  God  was  worshipped  as  men  regard  a  wilder- 
ness ;  that  is,  as  a  place  which  he  would  not  choose  to 
visit,  unless  impelled  by  necessity,  and  from  which  he 
would  wish  to  escape  as  soon  as  possible.  In  the  same 
manner  does  every  one  regard  it,  who,  in  any  place  of 
worship,  whether  private,  social,  or  public,  feels  as  if 
he  were,  detained  there,  and  as  if  he  would  prefer  some 
other  situation  or  employment. 

Still  more  loudly  does  the  professing  Christian  declare 


332 


AN  UNJUST  IMPUTATION 


that  he  regards  his  God  and  Redeemer  as  a  wilderness, 
when  he  repairs,  in  search  of  happiness,  to  the  scenes 
of  worldly  pleasure,  or  to  the  society  of  worldly-minded 
men.  He  then  says  tc-them  in  effect,  the  ways  of  wis- 
dom are  not  ways  of  pleasantness  ;  a  religious  life  is  a 
life  of  constraint  and  melancholy ;  I  should  die  with 
hunger  and  thirst,  did  I  not  occasionally  forsake  the 
wilderness  In  which  I  am  doomed  to  live,  and  refresh 
myself  with  the  fruits  on  which  you  are  feasting.  Sup- 
pose, my  hearers,  that  while  Adam  resided  in  paradise, 
the  world  had  been  filled,  as  it  now  is,  with  sinful  inhab- 
itants. Had  he,  in  these  circumstances,  frequently,  or 
occasionally,  forsaken  the  garden  of  God,  and  wandered 
out  into  the  world  to  seek  happiness,  in  the  society,  or 
in  the  pursuits,  of  sinful  men,  would  not  his  conduct 
have  seemed  to  say,  Paradise  is  a  wilderness,  a  land  of 
darkness,  in  which  happiness  is  not  to  be  found.  I  am 
weary  of  the  presence  of  God,  which  is  there  manifest- 
ed, and  am  constrained  to  come  to  you,  in  search  of 
pleasures  which  my  place  of  residence  does  not  afford  ! 
Just  so,  when  the  professed  friends  of  God  wander  from 
him,  and  from  the  path  of  duty,  in  search  of  happiness, 
they  practically  say,  He  is  a  wilderness,  a  land  of  dark- 
ness, in  which  I  find  nothing  pleasant,  nothing  to  allure, 
nothing  which  satifies  my  desires  ? 

Having  thus  shewn  when  we  treat  God  as  if  he  were 
a  wilderness,  a  land  of  darkness,  permit  me, 

II.  To  apply  to  all,  who  have  treated  him  in  this 
manner,  the  pathetic,  melting  expostulation  in  our  text. 
Let  me  ask  them,  whether  they  have  indeed  found  their 
God  and  Redeemer  no  better  than  a  dark  and  dreary 
and  desolate  wilderness  ?  With  a  view  to  assist  you  in 
answering  this  question,  let  me,  in  the  first  place,  remind 
you  of  the  temporal  blessings  which  you  enjoy.  Look 
at  your  comforts,  your  possessions,  your  children,  your 
friends,  your  liberty,  your  security  ?  Did  you  find  all 
these  blessings  in  a  wilderness,  or  did  they  come  to  you 
out  of  a  land  of  darkness  ?  Some  of  you  have  spent 
ten,  some  twenty,  some  forty,  some  sixty  years,  in  the 


REPELLED   BY  JEHOVAH.  333 


world.  During  all  this  time,  you  have  had  food  to  nour- 
ish you,  garments  to  clothe  you,  and  habitations  to  shel- 
ter you  ;  and  did  you  find  all  these  things  in  a  wilder- 
ness ?  If  so,  it  must  surely  have  been  a  most  fruitful 
wilderness  ! 

Let  me,  in  the  second  place,  remind  you  of  the  re- 
ligious privileges  with  which  you  have  been  favored. 
From  your  childhood  you  have  had  in  your  hands  the 
Scriptures,  the  Word  of  God,  containing  all  things  ne- 
cessary to  make  you  wise  unto  salvation,  and  have  been 
taught  to  read  them.  From  the  same  period,  you  have 
been  permitted  to  enter  the  sanctuary  of  God,  to  pre- 
sent unto  him  your  petitions,  to  listen  to  his  instructions 
and  invitations,  to  hear  the  gospel  of  salvation,  and  to 
see  life  and  immortality  brought  to  light.  In  fine,  the 
full  blaze  of  gospel  day  has  shone  around  you.  And 
did  you  find  all  this  light  in  a  land  of  darkness  ?  Did 
you  find  the  Bible,  the  sanctuary  of  God.  and  the  gos- 
pel of  salvation,  in  a  wilderness  ?  Surely,  a  wilderness, 
where  such  blessings  are  to  be  found,  must  be  preferable 
to  the  most  fertile  spot  on  earth  ! 

Thus  far,  the  questions  which  we  have  asked  are  ap- 
plicable to  all  alike.  With  those  of  you  who  are  pro- 
fessors of  religion,  we  may  proceed  further,  and  remind 
them  of  the  spiritual  blessings  which  they  have,  or  pro- 
fess to  have,  enjoyed.  We  may  say  to  them,  You  have 
found  the  table  of  Christ  spread  for  your  refreshment. 
On  that  table  Jesus  Christ  himself,  his  body,  his  blood, 
all  the  inestimable  blessings  which  he  dispenses,  have 
been  symbolically  set  before  you,  that  you  might  eat, 
and  drink,  and  live  forever.  When  you  entered  the 
church  of  Christ,  you  professed  to  have  found  light  to 
illuminate  your  minds,  grace  to  sanctify  your  hearts, 
mercy  to  pardon  all  your  sins,  and  divine  consolations, 
which  gave  you  joy  and  peace  in  believing.  If  you  are 
what  you  profess  to  be,  you  really  have  found  all  these 
blessings.  You  have  found  that  Christ's  flesh  is  meat 
indeed,  that  his  blood  is  drink  indeed.  You  have  en- 
joyed precious  seasons  of  communion  with  him  at  his 


334 


AN  UNJUST  I3IPUTATI0N 


table,  in  his  house,  and  in  your  closets.  You  have 
tasted  the  first  fruits  of  the  heavenly  inheritance,  celes- 
tial fruits,  the  food  of  angels,  such  as  earth  does  not 
produce.  And  these  fruits  were  the  earnest,  the  pledge 
of  better  things  to  come,  the  proofs  that  God  has  adopt- 
ed you  as  his  children,  and  made  you  heirs  of  himself, 
and  joint  heirs  with  Jesus  Christ.  Look  back,  then, 
upon  the  years  which  have  passed  away,  since  you  be- 
gan to  enjoy  these  blessings ;  review  God's  dealings 
with  you,  the  favors  which  he  has  bestowed  on  you, 
during  that  period,  and  then  say,  what  he  has  been  to 
you.  Will  any  of  you  say,  can  any  of  you  say,  He  has 
been  to  me  a  wilderness,  a  land  of  darkness  ?  Did  you 
find  all  the  inestimable  blessings  which  have  been  men- 
tioned in  a  wilderness  ?  Was  it  a  wilderness  which 
produced  the  celestial  fruits,  on  which  you  have  feasted  ? 
Did  a  Saviour,  and  salvation,  and  pardon,  and  peace, 
and  everlasting  life,  come  to  you  from  a  wilderness  ? 

Once  more.  Has  God  been  a  wilderness,  a  land  of 
darkness  to  this  church,  considered  as  a  body  ?  Look 
back  my  brethren  and  see  what  it  was  twenty  years 
since.  Consider  how  it  has  been  preserved,  blessed, 
increased,  during  the  intervening  period.  Consider 
how  much  mercy,  how  much  grace,  how  much  divine 
interposition  was  daily  necessary,  to  preserve  it,  and 
make  it  what  it  now  is.  Every  day  it  has  needed,  and 
it  has  received,  what  no  power  on  earth  could  give.  O 
then,  with  how  much  propriety,  with  what  irresistible 
force  may  God  ask,  have  I  been  a  wilderness,  a  land  of 
darkness  to  this  branch  of  my  church  ?  From  this 
enumeration  of  the  blessings  with  which  God  has  fa- 
vored us,  it  must,  I  think,'  appear  evident,  that  he  has 
by  no  means  been  to  us  a  wilderness,  and  that,  if  we 
have  regarded  and  treated  him  as  such,  we  have  been 
guilty  of  great  ingratitude,  and  injustice.  And  yet,  not- 
withstanding all  that  has  been  said,  there  are  probably 
some  present,  who  feel  as  if,  in  one  respect  at  least,  God 
has  been  to  them  no  better  than  a  dark  and  dreary  wil- 
derness.   We  allude  to  those  who,  though  they  have 


REPELLED  BY  JEHOVAH.  335 

professedly  paid  some  attention  to  religious  subjects, 
and  have  perhaps  enrolled  themselves  among  the  visible 
followers  of  Christ,  have  found  no  happiness  in  religion. 
Such  persons  often  say  in  their  hearts,  We  have  spent 
much  time  in  religious  pursuits,  and  have  made  many 
endeavors  to  find  that  rest  and  peace  and  consolation 
which  Christ  promises  to  his  disciples,,  and  of  which 
many  Christians  talk  so  much.  But  all  our  endeavors 
have  been  in  vain  ;  and  we  must  say,  if  we  speak  the 
truth,  that  our  way  has  been  like  that  of  a  man  travel- 
ling through  a  wilderness,  where  he  finds  no  path,  no 
refreshment,  but  meets  with  thorns  and  briars  and  ob- 
stacles at  every  step.  In  reply  to  such  complaints,  we 
remark,  that  the  persons  who  make  them  compose  sev- 
eral different  classes,  and  that  the  complaints  of  each  of 
these  classes  are  wholly  unreasonable  and  without  foun- 
dation. The  first  class  which  we  shall  mention,  is  com- 
posed of  those  who,  to  use  an  apostle's  language,  go 
about  to  establish  their  own  righteousness,  and  do  not 
submit  to  the  righteousness  of  God.  That  such  persons 
find  no  happiness  in  God,  in  religion,  is  not  wonderful ; 
for  to  God  and  to  religion,  they  are  entire  strangers.  ^ 
It  is  only  by  believing  in  Jesus  Christ,  that  men  are  fill- 
ed with  joy  and  peace.  But  these  persons  never  truly 
believed  in  Christ,  never  came  to  him  for  rest.  Who 
then  can  wonder  that  they  have  not  found  it.  They 
have  indeed  been  wandering  in  a  dark  and  thorny  wil- 
derness, but  that  wilderness  is  not  God. 

The  second  class  which  we  shall  mention,  is  compo- 
sed of  the  slothful.  That  they  should  find  no  happi- 
ness in  religion,  is  not  surprising ;  for  inspiration  de- 
clares, that  the  way  of  the  slothful  man  is  as  a  hedge 
of  thorns.  He  finds  no  path,  and  at  every  effort  which 
he  makes  to  press  forward,  he  feels  the  thorns  piercing 
his  flesh.  But  his  difficulties  and  sufferings  are  the 
consequences  of  his  own  slothfulness,  and  he  ought  not 
therefore  to  ascribe  them  to  religion.  Would  he  lay 
aside  his  slothfulness,  he  would  soon  experience  the 


336 


AN  UNJUST  IMPUTATION 


truth  of  the  assertion,  The  way  of  the  righteous  is  made 
plain. 

A  third  class  of  complainers  is  composed  of  such  as 
an  apostle  calls  double-minded  men,  who  are  unstable 
in  all  their  ways.  They  are  engaged  in  a  vain  attempt 
to  reconcile,  what  our  Saviour  has  declared  to  be  irre- 
concilable, the  service  of  God,  and  that  of  mammon. 
In  making  this  attempt  they  wander  from  God,  and  lose 
themselves  in  a  wilderness ;  and  then  inconsistently 
complain,  that  wisdom's  ways  are  not  paths  of  peace, 
that  God  is  to  them  a  land  of  darkness.  But  their  com- 
plaints are  as  unreasonable  as  those  of  a  man,  who 
should  bury  himself  in  a  dungeon,  and  then  complain 
that  the  sun  gave  no  light.  In  fine,  all  who  pretend 
that  God  is  a  wilderness,  a  land  of  darkness,  prove  on- 
ly that  they  know  him  not.  In  opposition  to  them  we 
may  array  the  testimony  of  all  who  have  ever  known 
him.  We  may  exhibit  the  testimony  of  the  inspired 
writers,  and  of  good  men  in  former  ages,  who  declare 
that  God  is  light,  and  that  in  him  is  no  darkness  at  all ; 
that  he  is  the  Father  of  lights,  from  whom  cometh 
down  every  good  and  perfect  gift ;  that  it  is  good  to 
draw  near  to  him ;  that  it  is  not  a  vain  thing  to  seek 
him ;  that  in  keeping  his  commandments  there  is  great 
reward;  that  in  his  presence  is  fullness  of  joy,  and  at 
his  right  hand  are  pleasures  forever  more.  Indeed,  if 
there  is  any  light,  any  happiness  on  earth,  if  there  is 
any  in  heaven,  if  there  is  any  in  the  universe,  it  is,  it 
must  be  in  God  alone.  If  he  is  a  wilderness,  all  is  a 
wilderness ;  if  he  is  a  land  of  darkness,  there  is  no 
land  of  light,  and  not  only  man,  but  all  intelligent  crea- 
tures, must  be  bewildered  in  darkness  and  wretched- 
ness forever. 

Permit  me  now  to  improve  the  subject, 
1.  By  applying  it  to  the  members  of  this  church, 
and  to  all  the  professed  disciples  of  Christ  before 
me.  Let  me  say  to  each  of  them,  Have  you  never 
treated  your  God  and  Redeemer  as  if  he  were  a 
wilderness,  a  land  of  darkness?    Have  you  never  been 


KEPELLED  BY  JEHOVAH. 


337 


negligent  and  remiss  in  waiting  upon  him  in  your  clos- 
ets, in  attending  upon  his  worship,  in  reading  his 
word  ?  Have  you  never  felt  like  Doeg  the  Edomite, 
when  he  was  detained  before  the  Lord?  Have  you 
never  wandered  from  him  and  been  slow  to  return? 
Have  you  never  engaged  in  his  service  with  reluct- 
ance, and  with  a  disposition  to  leave  it  as  soon  as 
conscience  would  permit  ?  If  so,  let  me  present  to  you, 
your  God,  your  Redeemer,  with  the  tender,  affecting 
language  of  our  text  upon  his  lips.  Hear  him  saying, 
Am  I  indeed  a  wilderness,  a  land  of  darkness,  as  your 
treatment  of  me  would  seem  to  imply.  Have  I  been 
such  to  you  ?  Have  I  deserved  at  your  hands  this  neg- 
lect, this  coldness  and  inconstancy  of  affection  ?  Is 
there  nothing  in  my  character,  nothing  in  all  the  bless- 
ings I  have  bestowed  on  you,  that  renders  me  worthy  of 
different  treatment  ?  Surely,  my  brethren,  no  Chris- 
tian's heart  can  resist  this  language.  Surely  every 
Christian's  heart  will  reply,  with  shame  and  sorrow,  No? 
Lord,  thou  hast  not  deserved  this  treatment  at  my  hands. 
Thou  hast  never  been  to  me  a  wilderness,  nor  a  land 
of  darkness.  So  far  as  I  have  walked  with  thee  hum- 
bly and  faithfully,  I  have  found  thee,  not  a  wilderness, 
but  a  paradise,  not  a  land  of  darkness,  but  a  region  of 
light.  I  have  found  that  the  light  of  thy  countenance, 
lifted  upon  me,  gives  more  joy  than  sinners  feel  when 
their  corn  and  their  wine  increase.  It  is  folly  the  most 
inexcusable,  it  is  madness  the  most  unaccountable,  which 
leads  me  to  forsake  thee,  and  to  treat  thee  with  a  neg- 
lect, and  a  coldness,  which  thou  art  infinitely  far  from 
deserving.  My  brethren,  is  this  the  real  language  of 
your  hearts  ?  If  so,  God's  expostulation  has  produced 
its  proper,  its  designed  effects.  It  has  broken  your 
hearts,  it  has  led  you  to  repentance.  Come,  then,  and 
receive  a  free  pardon,  through  that  Saviour,  whose  ta- 
ble you  are  about  to  approach.  Come,  and  hear  your 
offended,  but  pardoning  God,  say  to  you,  I  heal  all 
thy  backslidings,  I  freely  forgive  thee  all  thy  trespasses  ; 
go  in  peace,  and  sin  no  more.  Go  and  receive  pledges 
29 


338  AN  UNJUST    IMPUTATION  &C. 


of  pardon  and  peace  at  the  table  of  ray  Son.  And 
while  you  hear  God  thus  addressing  you,  let  your  heart 
reply,  O  Lord,  I  will  praise  thee  ;  for  though  thou  wast 
angry,  justly  angry  with  me,  yet  thine  anger  is  turned 
away,  and  thou  comfortest  me.  Who  is  a  God  like 
unto  thee,  that  forgivest  iniquity,  transgression  and  sin  ? 

2.  In  the  second  place,  let  me  apply  this  subject  to 
impenitent  sinners,  especially  to  those  who,  though  they 
are  convinced  that  religion  is  important  and  even  neces- 
sary, do  not  embrace  it.    To  such  persons  let  me  say, 
You  are  guilty,  in  a  far  greater  degree  than  those  whom 
we  have  just  been  addressing,  of  treating  God  as  if  he 
were  a  wilderness,  a  land  of  darkness.    You  stand,  with 
God  on  the  one  side,  and  the  world  on  the  other. 
When  you  look  at  the  world,  which  is  in  reality  a  wil- 
derness, it  appears  to  you  like  a  garden  in  which  you 
love  to  walk,  and  whose  flowery  paths  we  cannot  per- 
suade you  to  quit.    But  when  you  turn  to  contemplate 
the  service  of  God,  a  life  of  religion,  it  appears  to  you 
like  a  dark  and  dreary  wilderness.    On  the  borders  of 
this  wilderness  you  stand  lingering,  and  though  you  are 
perhaps  convinced  that  it  contains  in  its  bosom  many 
valuable  blessings,  yet  we  cannot  persuade  you  to  enter 
it.    Year  after  year  you  stand  hesitating  and  lingering, 
often  turning  your  eyes  and  your  steps  back  to  the  world, 
which  you  are  unwilling  to  leave.    O  then,  how  loudly 
do  your  feelings  and  your  conduct  say,  God  is  a  wilder- 
ness, a  land  of  darkness.    But  can  he  indeed  be  so  ? 
Have  good  men  in  all  ages  been  deceived  ?    Are  all  the 
inhabitants  of  heaven  deceived  ?    Remember  that,  if 
there  is  any  happiness  in  heaven,  it  consists  in  the  ser- 
vice, the  enjoyment  of  that  very  being  whom  you  now 
regard  as  a  wilderness.    And  if  you  continue  to  regard 
him  as  such  in  this  world,  you  will  regard  him  as  such 
in  the  world  to  come.    If  you  can  find  no  happiness  in 
serving  him  here,  you  cannot  be  happy  in  his  service 
hereafter. 


SERMON  XXIV. 

Christ's  Mission  and  Return. 


JOHN  XVI.  28. 

I  CAME  FORTH  FROM  THE  FATHER,  AND  AM  COME  INTO  THE  WORtB  ! 
AGAIN,  I  LEAVE  THE  WORLD,  AND  GO  TO  THE  FATHER. 

No  words,  uttered  by  our  Saviour  during  his  resi- 
dence on  earth,  appear  to  have  given  his  disciples  great- 
er satisfaction  than  these.  He  had  just  before  said  to 
them,  A  little  while,  and  ye  shall  not  see  me ;  and 
again  a  little  while,  and  ye  shall  see  me,  because  I  go 
unto  the  Father.  This  declaration  they  did  not  under- 
stand 5  and,  though  desirous  to  ask  an  explanation,  were 
either  afraid  or  ashamed  to  confess  their  ignorance. 
Our  Saviour  however  perceived  what  was  passing  in 
their  minds,  gave  them  unasked  the  desired  explanation, 
and  ended  by  saying,  I  came  forth  from  the  Father,  and 
am  come  into  the  world  ;  again,  I  leave  the  world,  and  , 
go  to  the  Father.  His  disciples  answered,  Lo,  now 
speakest  thou  plainly,  and  speakest  no  proverb.  Now 
-  we  are  sure  that  thou  knowest  all  things,  and  needest 
nOt  that  any  man  should  ask  thee  ;  by  this  we  believe 
that  thou  earnest  forth  from  God.  They  believed  this 
truth  indeed  before ;  but  their  faith  was  so  much  in- 
creased by  this,  conversation,  that  it  appeared  to  them 
as  if  they  then  believed  for  the  first  time,  and  as  if  their 
former  belief  was  scarcely  deserving  of  the  name. 

It  must  indeed  be  acknowledged  by  all,  as  the  disci- 
ples remarked,  that  our  Lord  here  speaks  plainly.  No 
one  can  pretend  that  there  is  any  thing  figurative  or  hy- 


\ 


340  Christ's  mission  and  return. 

perbolical ;  that  there  is  any  proverb  or  dark  saying  in 
the  words,  I  came  forth  from  the  Father,  and  am  come 
into  the  world  ;  again,  I  leave  the  world,  and  go  to  the 
Father.  Here  every  thing  is  plain,  simple,  intelligible. 
Let  us,  then,  attend  to  their  import.  They  will  not, 
perhaps,  teach  us  any  new  truths  ;  but  they  may  possi- 
bly cause  us,  as  they  did  the  disciples,  to  believe  more 
firmly  truths  which  were  known  before. 

iirst.  We  learn  from  this  passage,  that  our  Saviour 
existed  in  a  most  exalted  and  happy  state  before  his 
appearance  on  earth.  He  was  then  with  the  Father ; 
or  as  another  passage  expresses  it,  in  the  bosom  of  the 
feather.  The  same  truth  is  elsewhere  taught  with  at 
least  equal  clearness.  In  the  first  verse  of  this  book 
we  are  told,  that  he  was  in  the  beginning  with  God. 
And  in  the  prayer  which  immediately  follows  this  chap- 
ter, he  says,  Father,  I  come  to  thee ;  I  have  finished 
the  work  which  thou  gavest  me  to  do.  And  now,  O 
Father,  glorify  thou  me  with  thine  own  self,  with  the 
glory  which  I  had  with  thee  before  the  world  was.  Un- 
less we  suppose  that  he  could  utter  falsehood,  even  in 
an  address  to  heaven,  we  must  then  believe  that  he  not 
only  existed  with  the  Father,  but  that  he  possessed  glo- 
ry with  the  Father  before  the  world  was  made.  And 
what  was  he  then  ?  He  was  not  a  man  ;  for  he  became 
man,  when  he  was  born  into  our  world.  He  was  not 
an  angel ;  for  an  apostle  asserts,  and  brings  many  argu- 
ments to  prove,  that  he  was  not.  Unto  which  of  the 
angels,  he  asks,  did  God  ever  say,  as  he  did  to  Christ, 
Thou  art  my  Son,  this  day  have  I  begotten  thee.  But 
if  he  was  not  a  man,  not  an  angel,  what  was  he  ?  Let 
inspiration  answer.  In  the  beginning  was  the  Word, 
and  the  Word  was  with  God,  and  the  Word  was  God. 
Nor  did  he  cease  to  be  God,  when  he  became  man. 
No,  he  was  God  manifest  in  the  flesh,  God  over  all 
blessed  forever.    But  this  leads  us  to  remark, 

Secondly.  Our  Saviour  teaches  us  in  these  words, 
that  from  this  pre-existent,  exalted,  happy  state  in  the 
bosom  of  the  Father,  he  came  into  our  world.    I  came 


Christ's  mission  and  return. 


341 


forth  from  the  Father,  and  am  come  into  the  world. 
This  truth  also  is,  in  other  places,  largely  insisted  on 
both  by  himself  and  his  apostles.  In  several  passages 
he  says,  expressly,  I  came  down  from  heaven.  Being 
in  the  form  of  God,  says  an  apostle,  he  made  himself  of 
no  reputation,  and  took  upon  him  the  form  of  a  servant, 
and  was  made  in  the  likeness  of  men.  And  being  found 
in  fashion  as  a  man,  he  humbled  himself,  and  became 
obedient  to  death,  even  the  death  of  the  cross.  He  was 
in  the  world,  and  the  world  was  made  by  him,  and  the 
world  knew  him  not.  He  came  unto  his  own,  his  own 
creatures,  his  own  world,  but  his  own  received  him  not. 

Thirdly.  Our  Saviour  here  teaches  us  that,  when 
he  left  this  world,  he  went  back  to  his  Father,  or  to 
heaven  from  whence  he  came.  The  truth  of  this  de- 
claration, so  far  as  human  eyes  could  see  it,  his  disci- 
ples afterwards  saw.  They  saw  him  ascend  up  visibly 
toward  heaven,  till  a  cloud  received  him  out  of  their 
sight.  And  what  they  could  not  see,  the  Spirit  of  God 
revealed  to  them.  He  assured  them  that  their  Master 
had  entered  into  heaven,  and  was  seated  at  the  right 
hand  of  the  throne  of  the  Majesty  on  high,  far  above  all 
principality,  and  power,  and  might,  and  dominion,  and 
every  name  that  is  named,  not  only  in  this  world,  but 
in  the  world  to  come. 

The  view  which  has  been  taken  of  the  import  of  our 
text,  brief  as  it  is,  opens  a  wide  field  for  serious  and 
instructive  meditation.  Indeed  it  is  connected  more  or 
less  intimately  with  every  fact  and  doctrine  of  Chris- 
tianity. To  some  of  the  reflections  which  it  most  natu- 
rally suggests  your  attention  is  now  requested. 

1.  It  is  obvious  to  remark,  that  the  events  mentioned 
in  this  passage  are,  both  in  themselves  and  in  their 
consequences,  by  far  the  most  remarkable  which  have 
occurred  in  our  world  since  its  creation.  Indeed  the 
creation  of  the  world  itself  was  an  event  far  less  won- 
derful. That  a  being  possessed  of  infinite  wisdom5 
power  and  goodness,  should  create  a  world,  or  many 
worlds,  is  nothing  very  wonderful  or  surprising.  But 
29* 


242         Christ's  mission  and  return. 


that,  after  he  had  created  it,  and  after  its  inhabitants  had 
revolted  from  him,  he  should  visit  it,— visit  it  in  a  hu- 
man form,  in  the  likeness  of  sinful  flesh  ;  that  he  should 
enter  it,  not  as  the  Ancient  of  days,  but  as  an  infant ; 
live  in  it,  not  as  its  Sovereign  and  Proprietor,  but  as  a 
servant,  a  dependant  on  the  bounty  of  his  own  crea- 
tures ;  and  above  all,  that  he  should  die  in  it,  die  in  it 
as  a  malefactor,  on  a  cross,  between  two  thieves ;  that 
this  earth  should  not  only  have  been  pressed  by  its 
Creator's  footsteps,  but  wet  with  his  tears,  and  stained 
with  his  blood  ;  these  are  wonders  indeed,  wonders 
which  would  be  utterly  incredible,  had  not  God  himself 
revealed  them;  wonders  which  will  still  be  regarded  as  in- 
credible by  all,  who  forget  that  God  is  wonderful  in  work- 
ing, and  that  as  high  as  the  heavens  are  above  the  earth, 
so  high  are  his  ways  above  our  ways,  and  his  thoughts 
above  our  thoughts.  No  wonder  that  angels  should  desire 
to  look  into  these  things.  No  wonder  that  they  left  heaven 
in  multitudes  to  visit  our  world  when  their  Creator  and 
their  Lord  lay  an  infant  in  a  manger.  No  wonder  that 
raptures  and  ecstacies  unfelt  before  swelled  their  bo- 
soms, and  called  for  new  songs  to  express  them.  The 
wonder  is,  that  man,  stupid,  insensible  man,  should  be 
no  more  affected  by  this  event ;  that  he  should  regard 
it  without  interest,  and  almost  fall  asleep  while  he  hears 
it  described.  It  is  not  thus,  when  events  comparatively 
trifling  solicit  his  attention.  Let  the  king  of  Great  Brit- 
ain visit  his  Irish  and  Scottish  dominions,  and  the  world 
rings  with  it.  Let  the  President  of  these  States  come 
among  us,  and  every  house  pours  out  its  inmates  to  wel- 
come or  to  gaze.  Let  a  comet  blaze  athwart  the  sky,' 
and  thousands  of  sleepless  eyes  are  open  to  watch  the 
ethereal  stranger.  But  let  the  Creator,  the  Eternal 
Sovereign  of  the  universe,  by  whom  and  for  whom  all 
things  were  made,  come  in  the  most  interesting  form, 
to  visit  this  rebellious  province  of  his  dominions,  and 
how  few  are  found  who  even  trouble  themselves  to  ask 
whence  he  comes,  or  what  is  his  object ;  how  much 
fewer  to  give  him  the  welcome  which  he  had  a  right  to 


Christ's  mission  and  return.  343 


expect !  My  hearers,  how  strange  is  this ;  and  how 
strange  it  is,  that  we  cannot  see  and  blush  at  our  own 
stupidity.  Why  is  this  event,  which  will  cause  the 
name  of  our  world  to  resound  through  the  whole  created 
universe  of  God,  and  to  be  had  in  everlasting  remem- 
brance, regarded  with  such  indifference  !  This  world 
itself  will  soon  with  all  its  works  be  burnt  up.  Its  place 
in  the  heavens  will  know  it  no  more.  Not  even  a 
wreck  will  remain  to  remind  future  orbs  that  here  once 
rolled  the  planet  called  Earth  ;  and  its  very  existence 
would  at  length  fade  away  from  the  memories  of  all, 
except  its  former  inhabitants  !  but  the  fact  mentioned  in 
our  text,  will  preserve  its  name  from  oblivion,  and 
through  eternal  ages  it  will  be  remembered  as  the  world 
which  its  Creator  visited,  and  for  which  he  died.  And 
for  similar  reasons  its  inhabitants,  the  posterity  of  Adam, 
will  be  objects  of  intense  interest  and  curiosity  to  holy 
beings  through  interminable  ages.  Shew  me  a  man, 
shew  me  one  of  that  race  for  which  my  Creator  died  ; 
shew  me  one  of  those  whom  he  redeemed  by  his  blood, 
will,  we  may  suppose,  be  one  of  the  first  exclamations 
of  all  who,  through  the  ages  of  eternity,  shall  from  vari-  - 
ous  parts  of  Jehovah's  dominions  enter  heaven ;  and 
when  they  wish  to  see  what  sin  can  do  ;  when  they  wish  . 
to  behold  it  in  its  most  dreadful  effects,  in  its  blackest 
forms,  they  will  turn  and  contemplate^  with  shuddering 
wonder,  those  who  perished  in  consequence  of  neglect- 
ing this  great  salvation,  and  receiving  this  unparalleled 
grace  of  God  in  vain.  These,  they  will  exclaim,  were 
some  of  the  inhabitants  of  that  highly  favored  world. 
And  how  could  the  inhabitants  of  such  a  world  perish  ? 
How  could  they  resist  such  love,  such  mercy,  such  a 
bright  display  of  all  the  divine  perfections,  as  was  ex- 
hibited to  them  !  How  could  they  break  through  so 
many  sacred  obligations,  resist  the  influence  of  so  many 
most  powerful  motives,  and  win  their  way  to  hell  over 
the  body  of  a  crucified  Saviour  !  of  such  a  Saviour  too 
as  died  for  them  ?  My  hearers,  if,  as  our  great  Teacher 
assures  us,  much  will  be  required  of  those  to  whom 


344  Christ's  mission  and  return. 

much  is  given,  it  seems  certain  that  the  responsibility, 
the  sinfulness  and  the  guilt  of  those  who  perish  after 
hearing  of  what  Jesus  Christ  has  done  and  suffered  ior 
them,  will  be  greater  than  those  of  any  other  creatures  ! 
for  surely,  without  intending  to  limit  God  we  may  ven- 
ture to  say,  that  he  never  will,  that  he  never  can  do 
more  for  any  race  of  beings  than  he  has  for  ours. 

But  it  is  not  sufficient  simply  to  contemplate  this 
great  event,  wonderful  as  it  is.  We  must  look  also  at 
the  motives  which  prompted  it.  Indeed  when  we  seethe 
Creator  leaving  his  native  heaven,  the  bosom  of  his  Fa- 
ther, descending  into  our  world,  assuming,  and  suffering 
in  our  nature,  we  are  naturally  led  to  ask,  what  motive 
impelled  him  ?  what  object  could  in  his  view  be  of  suf- 
ficient importance  to  induce  such  humiliation,  such  suf- 
fering as  this  ?  It  must  have  been  a  great  object,  a 
powerful  motive,  which  could  have  induced  him  to  vis- 
it our  world,  even  had  he  come  in  the  form  of  God. 
But  how  much  greater  must  have  been  the  object,  how 
much  more  powerful  the  motive,  which  induced  him  to 
visit  it  in  the  form  of  a  servant,  in  the  likeness  of  sinful 
flesh,  and  to  die  as  a  malefactor.  What  could  induce 
him  to  exchange  heaven  for  earth,  the  bosom  of  his  Fa- 
ther for  the  body  of  an  infant,  the  celestial  throne  for 
a  manger  and  a  cross,  the  adoration  of  angels  for  the 
scoff  and  insults  of  men  ?  It  evidently  could  be  no 
personal  object,  no  selfish  motive,  no  motive  such  as 
those,  by  which  we  are  naturally  actuated.  It  could 
not  be  to  gain  any  thing  for  himself;  for  he  already 
possessed  all  things,  and  he  knew  that,  by  coming  into 
our  world,  he  must  sustain  a  temporary  loss  of  almost 
every  thing  dear  to  him.  It  must  then  have  been  for 
others,  and  not  for  himself,  that  he  came.  And  it  was 
for  others,  it  was  for  us.  He  come  to  be  the  light 
of  the  world.  He  came  to  seek  and  to  save  that 
which  was  lost.  He  came  to  save  his  people  from 
their  sins.  He  came  to  redeem  them  from  the  curse 
of  a  violated  law,  by  bearing  it  in  their  stead.  He  came 
to  die  the  just  for  the  unjust,  that  he  might  bring  us 


Christ's  mission  and  return. 


84S 


back  to  a  forsaken  God.  In  a  word,  he  came  to  res- 
cue immortal  souls,  beings  capable  of  containing  incon- 
ceivable happiness  or  misery,  from  moral  blindness,  and 
sin,  and  guilt,  and  death,  and  hell ;  and  to  open  a  way 
by  which  they  might  ascend  to  the  heaven  from  which 
he  came,  but  whose  gates  their  sins  had  forever  barred 
against  them.  Such  was  the  object  for  which  the  Cre- 
ator did  and  suffered  all  this.  And,  O.  how  puerile, 
how  trifling  do  the  grandest  objects  of  human  pursuit, 
and  the  most  splendid  human  enterprizes  appear,  when 
compared  with  this  !  All  succeeding  ages  have  corn- 
combined  to  admire  and  extol  Columbus,  embarking  to 
seek  over  a  pathless  ocean  a  then  undiscovered  quarter 
of  the  globe.  But  what  was  this  in  comparison  with 
our  Saviour's  descent  from  heaven  into  the  grave  to 
seek  a  lost,  to  bring  back  a  wandering,  to  save  a  ruined, 
self-ruined  world  ?  This  was  indeed  an  enterprise  for 
a  God. 

But  still  the  question  returns,  if  this  was  the  object,  what 
was  the  motive  ?  Why  did  he  wish  to  save  such  a  world 
He  needed  it  not.  He  could  have  made  a  thousand 
worlds  at  less  expense.  And  he  had  every  reason  to  ab- 
hor and  renounce  our  race,  both  on  account  of  what 
they  had  done,  and  on  account  of  the  manner  in  which 
he  foresaw  they  would  treat  himself.  My  hearers,  there 
was  but  one  motive,  but  one  principle  in  his  breast,  suf- 
ficiently strong  to  prompt  him  to  this ;  and  that  princi- 
ple was,  love,  pure  disinterested  love.  And  now  I  have 
mentioned  its  name,  many  of  you  will  not  understand 
me.  You  cannot  conceive  of  such  love,  because  you 
never  felt  it.  According  to  a  trite  and  homely,  but 
just  remark,  you  judge  of  others  by  yourselves.  When 
you  hear  of  missionaries  leaving  their  native  country,  and 
going  to  spend  their  days  among  the  heathen,  among 
savages,  far  from  all  the  enjoyments  and  conveniencies 
of  civilized  life,  some  of  you  can  scarcely  believe  that 
they  are  prompted  by  love,  love  to  the  souls  of  men 
whom  they  never  saw.  Many  of  you  probably  suspect, 
that  they  are  secretly  actuated  by  some  more  selfish 


346 


Christ's  mission  and  return. 


motive.  How  then  can  you  expand  your  narrow  views 
sufficiently  to  grasp,  to  comprehend  that  immeasurable 
love  which  Jesus  Christ  displayed  in  his  mission  from 
heaven  1  The  Christian,  in  whose  breast  a  spark  of 
the  same  celestial  fire  has  been  kindled,  can  conceive 
something  of  it ;  but  those  who  are  destitute  of  this  love, 
as  all  impenitent  sinners  are,  form  no  conception  of  it, 
and  hear  of  the  love  of  Christ,  and  of  all  its  astonishing 
effects  with  a  kind  of  stupid  amazement,  or  with  per- 
fect indifference.  But,  my  hearers,  whatever  any  of  you 
may  think  of  it,  all  the  love  which  was  ever  felt  on 
earth,  and  all  that  was  ever  felt  by  angels,  could  it  be 
collected  into  one  bosom,  would  be  as  nothing  compared 
with  the  love  which  Christ  displayed,  and  would  leave 
that  bosom  cold  in  comparison  with  the  fervor  which 
glowed  in  his  breast.  His  love  was  a  love  like  the  del- 
uge of  Noah,  such  a  love  as  we  might  expect  could  be 
displayed,  when  the  windows  of  heaven  were  unstopped, 
the  fountains  of  its  great  deeps  broken  up,  and  all  its 
treasured  stores  of  love  poured  down  at  once  upon  us. 
To  think  of  such  love  is  like  trying  to  think  of  existence 
which  has  no  beginning,  or  of  power  which  makes  some- 
thing of  nothing.  Tongue  cannot  describe  it,  finite 
minds  cannot  conceive  it,  angels  faint  under  it,  and  those 
who  know  most  of  it  can  only  say  with  inspiration,  that 
it  passeth  knowledge. 

2.  The  appearance  of  such  a  person  as  Jesus  Christ 
in  our  world,  gives  us  an  appalling  view  of  the  moral 
state  and  danger  of  its  inhabitants.  If  it  was  necessa- 
ry that  such  a  being  should  come  from  heaven  to  save 
us,  our  situation  must  be  deplorable  indeed.  How 
dark  for  instance,  how  black,  must  have  been  that  night 
of  ignorance  which  nothing  less  than  the  descent  of  the 
Sun  of  Righteousness  from  his  celestial  sphere  could 
illuminate.  How  strong  must  have  been  those  bands 
of  sin,  which  none  but  an  Almighty  deliverer  could 
break.  How  incalculably  great  must  have  been  that 
guilt,  for  which  nothing  but  such  a  sacrifice  could  atone. 
In  a  word,  how  incurable,  how  desperate  must  have 


Christ's  mission  and  return. 


347 


been  the  spiritual  maladies  of  our  race,  when*  such  a 
physician  was  necessary  to  heal  them,  and  when  even 
he  could  find  no  remedy  sufficiently  efficacious  but  his 
own  blood  !    Well  may  we  say,  with  an  apostle,  that  if 
one,  if  such  an  one,  died  for  men,  then  were  men  dead. 
My  hearers,  it  is  not  those  passages  which  speak  of  the 
blindness  of  the  human  mind,  the  desperate  wickedness 
of  the  human  heart,  and  the  vast  amount  of  human 
sinfulness  and  human  guilt,  that  give  me  the  most  ap- 
palling views  of  our  situation.    No,  it  is  the  means 
which  were  thought  necessary  by  infinite  wisdom  to 
save  us  from  that  situation.    I  know  that  God  would 
not  leave  heaven  for  a  slight  cause.    I  know  that  the 
Creator  would  not  be  born  and  suffer,  and  die,  unless 
some  most  tremendous  exigency  demanded  it.  And 
when  I  am  told  that  the  situation  of  man  was  so  hope- 
less, so  deplorable,  as  to  render  such  means  necessary 
for  his  deliverance,  then,  then,  I  view  our  situation  as 
terrible  indeed.    I  see  the  dreadfulness  of  our  fate  in 
the  means  employed  to  rescue  us  from  it.    My  hearers, 
you  woald  in  other  cases,  reason  in  a  similar  manner. 
Were  either  of  you  sick,  and  should  your  friends  at  a 
vast  expense  send  to  a  great  distance  for  a  most  skilful 
physician,  you  would  conclude  at  once,  that  they  con- 
sidered your  disease  as  exceedingly  dangerous ;  your 
fears  would  be  excited,'  and  you  would  readily  submit 
to  every  means  which  might  possibly  effect  a  cure. 
Why  then,  when  you  see,  not  a  prophet,  not  an  angel, 
but  the  eternal  Son  of  God,  the  Creator,  Upholder, 
and  Governor  of  the  world,  sent  from  heaven  to  cure 
you,  will  you  not  reason  and  act  in  a  similar  manner? 
Why  not  say,  if  my  own  merits,  if  a  man,  if  an  angel 
could  have  saved  me,  Jesus  Christ  would  never  have 
come  forth  from  his  Father  into  this  world  to  do  it. 
Why  not  believe  that  there  is  none  other  name  given 
under  heaven  among  men,  whereby  you  can  be  saved. 
And  why  not  receive  thankfully,  and  at  once,  this  great 
Physician,  and  submit  to  the  means  of  cure  which  he 
prescribes  ?    Remember  that  if  you  neglect  to  do  this, 


348 


Christ's  mission  and  return. 


you  will,  you  must  be  left  in  that  awful  situation,  and 
exposed  to  that  tremendous  doom  from  which  Jesus 
Christ  came  to  save,  sinners.  Remember,  that  that 
doom  will  be  awfully  aggravated  by  your  neglect  of 
such  a  Saviour.  Remember  that,  if  you  reject  him, 
there  remaineth  no  more  sacrifice  for  sin,  but  a  certain 
fearful  looking  for  of  judgment  and  fiery  indignation. 
To  day,  then,  if  ye  will  hear  his  voice  harden  not  your 
hearts. 

That  you  may  be  induced  to  do  this,  permit  me  to 
remind  you, 

3.  Of  the  certainty  which  attends  every  truth  reveal- 
ed to  us  by  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  You  sometimes 
say,  at  least  in  your  hearts,  no  man  has  ever  returned 
from  the  other  world  to  give  us  any  information  of  what 
awaits  us  there,  or  even  to  assure  us  of  its  existence. 
We  cannot  then  be  certain  that  there  is  another  world, 
or  a  day  of  judgment,  or  a  heaven,  or  a  hell.  If  in- 
deed one  would  rise  from  the  dead,  and  assure  us  that 
he  had  seen  and  known  all  these  things,  we  might  be- 
lieve. But,  my  hearers,  something  far  more  satisfacto- 
ry than  this  has  been  done.  Not  a  man  merely,  but 
the  Son  of  God,  our  Creator,  our  future  Judge,  has 
come  from  the  other  world  to  this,  on  purpose  to  re- 
veal it  to  us,  to  bring  life  and  immortality  to  light. 
He  came  directly  from  the  bosom  of  his  Father,  and 
is  therefore,  intimately  acquainted  with  all  his  coun- 
sels and  designs.  He  came  from  that  very  heaven 
which  he  revealed  to  us;  and  lest  we  should  refuse 
to  give  him  credit,  he  by  his  miracles  fixed  the  broad 
seal  of  heaven  to  his  doctrines.  Lest  even  this  should 
be  insufficient,  the  eternal  Father,  by  an  audible  voice 
from  heaven  exclaimed,  This  is  my  beloved  Son  : 
Hear  ye  him ;  that  is,  yield  full  credit  to  all  which 
he  reveals ;  yield  implicit  obedience  to  all  his  com- 
mands. And  how  much  better,  how  much  more  sat- 
isfactory is  this,  than  would  be  the  report  of  some 
fallible  mortal,  returning  from  the  other  world,  who  might 
be  deceived  himself,  or  wilfully  deceive  us.    My  hear- 


Christ's  mission  and  return 


349 


ers,  if  you  will  not  yield  to  this  evidence,  if  you  will  not 
believe  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  who  came  from  heaven, 
and  is  returned  to  heaven,  most  certainly  you  would  not 
be  persuaded,  though  one  rose  from  the  dead.  You 
must  however  do  as  you  please  ;  but  for  us,  I  speak  in 
the  name  of  all  his  real  disciples,  until  you  can  shew  us 
a  better,  a  more  infallible  Teacher,  we  must  and  will  fol- 
low him.    Nor  are  we  ashamed  to  avow  our  faith.    No  ; 
we  exult  and  glory  in  it.    We  triumph  while  we  point 
to  the  strong  foundations  of  our  belief,  and  build  upon 
them  our  eternal  hopes.    We  can  look  up  and  say,  to 
our  ascended  Saviour,  Lord,  we  believe  and  are  sure 
that  thou  art  the  Christ  the  Son  of  the  living  God.  And 
we  know  experimentally  the  truth  of  the  apostle's  asser- 
tion, He  that  believeth  on  the  Son  of  God  hath  the 
witness  in  himself ;  a  witness,  which  cannot  deceive 
him.    Tell  us  not  then  of  the  vain  opinions,  the  endless 
conjectures  of  ignorant,  fallible,  short-sighted  men,  gro- 
ping in  midnight  darkness.    Tell  us  not  of  conjectures, 
when  we  have  certainty.    Every  thing  which  Christ 
has  revealed  respecting  the  other  world,  is  fixed,  es- 
tablished, certain.    It  is  no  longer  a  matter  of  doubt  or 
dispute*    We  rely  upon  it,  as  if  we  had  ourselves  visited 
the  other  world,  and  seen  all  which  he  reveals.  We 
venture  our  all  upon  it.    We  renounce  things  which  we 
have  seen  for  things  which  we  have  not  seen ;  and  while 
we  believe  we  find  our  Saviour's  declaration  verified,  I 
am  come  a  light  into  the  world,  that  he  who  believeth 
in  me  should  not  walk  in  darkness  but  have  the  light-  of 
life.    Hence  too,  we  firmly  believe  that  he  will  again 
visit  our  world  as  its  Judge,  that  to  them  who  look  and 
wait  for  him  he  will  appear  the  second  time  without  sin 
unto  salvation.    He  has  assured  us  that  he  will,  and  we 
can  rely  confidently  upon  his  word.    Nor  is  it,  even 
humanly  speaking,  one  half  so  improbable  that  he  will 
come  the  second  time,  as  it  was  that  he  would  come  the 
first.    It  appears  far  less  astonishing  that  he  should 
come  as  God  to  judge  the  world,  than  that  he  should 


350 


Christ's  mission  and  return. 


come  as  man  to  die  for  the  world.  And  being  assured 
that  he  did  come  once,  we  feel  assured  that  he  will 
come  again.  Meanwhile  in  obedience  to  his  commands, 
we  will,  by  eating  of  this  bread  and  drinking  of  this  cup, 
assist  in  shewing  forth  his  death  till  he  shall  come. 

4.  How  real,  how  accessible,  and  how  near  to  us,  my 
Christian  friends,  does  heaven  appear  viewed  in  the 
light  of  this  subject.  When  we  hear  our  Saviour,  our 
Head  speak  of  coming  from  heaven  into  this  world,  and 
returning  from  this  world  to  heaven,  it  is  like  hearing  a 
friend  speak  of  going  to  Europe  and  returning  home. 
We  have  as  much  reason  to  regard  heaven  as  a  reality, 
as  we  have  to  regard  Europe  as  a  reality  ;  nay  we  have 
more,  for  surely  our  Saviour's  testimony  is  more  satis- 
factory, more  infallible,  than  that  of  all  the  men  who 
ever  returned  from  Europe.  And  as  our  Saviour  re- 
turned to  heaven,  he  is  now  in  heaven,  he  appears  there 
for  us,  as  our  Advocate,  our  representative,  our  fore- 
runner. Whither  the  head  is  gone,  all  the  members 
must  in  due  time  follow.  I  will,  he  said,  in  his  dyiug 
prayer, — Father,  I  will  that  those  whom  thou  hast  given 
me,  be  with  me,  where  I  am,  that  they  may  behold  my 
glory.  Yes,  he  wills  it,  and  it  shall  be  done.  Soon 
will  your  disembodied  spirits,  freed  from  all  imperfec- 
tion, follow  your  ascended  Head  and  Lord,  to  mansions 
above,  mansions  which  he  is  even  now  preparing  for 
you  ;  and  there  shall  you  be  forever  with  the  Lord. 
Comfort,  and  encourage  one  another  then  with  these 
words.  Place  your  affections,  not  on  things  below, 
but  on  things  above,  where  Christ  sitteth  at  the  right 
hand  of  God  ;  and  live  in  such  a  manner  that  you  may 
be  always  able  to  say  with  an  old  disciple,  4  My  Head 
is  in  heaven,  my  heart  is  in  heaven,  and  ere  long  I  shall 
myself  be  there.' 

To  conclude  :  Gladly,  most  gladly,  my  impenitent 
hearers,  would  I  say  something  to  render  this  subject 
profitable  to  you  ;  for  the  subject  of  the  last  Sabbath, 
the  never  dying  worm,  and  the  unquenchable  fire,  are 


Christ's  mission  and  return.  351 


still  before  me.  1  see  a  vast  and  most  expensive  appa- 
ratus of  means  employed  to  open  a  way  for  your  escape 
from  that  fate.  I  see  heaven  opening,  your  Creator  de- 
scending, angels  attending  him  down,  and  all  their  en- 
raptured hosts  exclaiming,  Mortals,  we  bring  you  glad 
tidings  of  great  joy  ;  unto  you  is  born  a  Saviour.  I  see 
this  Saviour  living,  teaching,  working  miracles,  dying  on 
the  cross ;  reascending  to  heaven.  I  see  his  heralds 
sent  out  to  proclaim  these  facts,  to  offer  peace  and  par- 
don and  salvation  to  dying  men.  I  turn  with  anxious 
eagerness  to  you,  to  see  how  you  are  affected  by  all  this  ; 
and  alas,  I  find  you  scarely  affected  at  all.  I  find  you 
paying  no  regard  to  all  these  wonders,  taking  no  pains 
to  secure  this  great  salvation  ;  but  eager  in  the  pursuit 
of  trifles,  and  pursuing  that  very  course,  which,  your  fu- 
ture Judge  has  most  explicitly  declared,  will  terminate 
in  everlasting  woe.  My  hearers,  do  you  believe  there 
ever  was  such  a  person  as  Jesus  Christ  ?  Do  you  be- 
lieve that,  standing  in  the  midst  of  his  disciples,  he  said, 
I  came  forth  from  the  Father  and  am  come  into  the 
world,  and  again  I  leave  the  world  and  go  to  the  Father. 
If  you  believe  this,  you  must  believe  that  everything 
which  he  said  was  infallibly  true,  and  will  infallibly  be 
accomplished.  You  must  believe  that  he  is  now  at  the 
right  hand  of  God,  that  he  is  speaking  to  you  in  his 
word,  and  that,  if  they  escaped  not,  who  refused  to  hear 
him  when  he  spake  on  earth,  much  more  will  you  not 
escape,  if  you  turn  away  from  him  speaking  from  heav- 
en. But  why  do  I  ask  whether  you  believe  these  things  ? 
The  conduct  of  many  among  you  declares,  with  ten 
thousand  voices,  that  you  do  not  believe  them,  or  that, 
if  you  have  any  faith  in  them,  it  is  only  that  cold  specu- 
lative faith,  which  being  without  works  is  dead.  Did 
you  believe  them,  nothing  on  earth,  nothing  that  you  ever 
heard  or  saw,  wguW  appear  so  interesting,  so  affecting. 
Then,  instead  of  seeing  you  crowding  away  from  the 
table  of  Christ,  we  should  see  you,  with  deep  interest  in 
your  countenances  and  strong  affection  in  your  hearts, 


352         Christ's  mission  and  return. 


coming  around  it  to  commemorate  a  crucified  and  as- 
cended Saviour.  But  as  it  is,  we  can  only  say  to  you, 
He  that  believeth  on  the  Son  hath  everlasting  life  ;  and 
he  that  believeth  not  the  Son  shall  not  see  life,  but  the 
wrath  of  God  abideth  on  him. 


SERMON  XXV. 

Demonstration  of  Christ's  Love. 
JOHN  XI.  36. 

THEN  SAID  THE  JEWS,  BEHOLD  HOW  HE  LOVED  HIM  ! 

This  exclamation  was  uttered  at  the  tomb  of  Laza- 
rus. It  was  occasioned  by  the  tears  which  our  Saviour 
there  shed.  The  unbelieving  Jews,  who,  in  consequence 
of  the  pointed  manner  in  which  he  warned,  reproved, 
and  threatened  them,  seem  to  have  regarded  him  as  un- 
feeling and  morose,  were  surprised  at  seeing  him  exhibit 
such  marks  of  sympathizing  affection  ;  and  exclaimed 
with  wonder,  Behold  how  he  loved  him  ! 

The  use  which  I  propose  to  make  of  this  passage  has, 
probably,  already  occurred  to  you.  If  the  affection 
which  Christ  felt  for  Lazarus,  and  which  was  manifested 
by  his  tears  only,  appeared  surprisingly *great  to  the  Jewsy 
how  great,  how  surprising,  should  the  love  which  he  has 
manifested  for  us  appear  in  our  eyes  I  If  the  Jews  ex- 
claimed. Behold  how  he  loved  Lazarus !  merely  be- 
cause they  saw  him  weeping  at  his  tomb,  with  how  much 
reason  may  we  exclaim,  Behold  how  he  loved  us  !  when 
we  behold  him  in  Bethlehem,  in  Gethsemane,  and  on 
Calvary  !  Indeed,  an  apostle  tells  us,  that  the  love  of 
Christ  passeth  knowledge  ;  and  at  the  same  time  inti- 
mates that  it  is  exceedingly  important  to  know  as  much 
of  it  as  is  possible,  and  that,  in  proportion  as  we  know 
it,  we  shall  be  filled  with  the  fulness  of  God.  Let  us 
then,  before  we  approach  the  table  of  our  Lord,  spend 
30* 


354         DEMONSTRATION  OF  CHRIST'S  LOVE. 

a  few  moments  in  meditating  upon  his  unsearchable,  un- 
conquerable love. 

I  need  not  inform  you  that  love,  like  every  other  af- 
fection of  the  heart,  is  in  its  own  nature  invisible  to  every 
eye  bat  that  of  omniscience.  We  cannot  look  into  the 
heart,  and  see  it  glowing  there.  We  can  discern  it  only 
in  the  effects  which  it  produces,  in  the  external  signs 
which  constitute  its  language,  and  which  manifest  its  ex- 
istence. We  see  it  as  it  exists,  not  in  the  fountain,  but 
in  the  streams ;  and  from  the  copiousness  of  the  streams, 
we  infer  the  fulness  of  the  fountain.  Where  the  genu- 
ine effects  of  love  are  most  abundantly  displayed,  there, 
we  conclude,  love  exists  in  the  highest  degree.  It  is  by 
this  rule  that  we  are  to  estimate  the  greatness  of  our 
Saviour's  love.  Let  us  then  inquire  what  are  the  gen- 
uine effects,  the  external  indications  of  love,  and  how 
far  they  appear  in  the  conduct  of  our  Redeemer. 

1.  One  of  the  effects  and  indications  of  love,  is  a  read- 
iness to  submit  to  privations  and  inconveniences  for  the 
sake  of  assisting  or  relieving  the  person  beloved.  It  is 
by  the  degree  in  which  our  friends  exhibit  this  effect  of 
love,  that  we  estimate  the  strength  of  their  affection  for 
us".  The  greater  the  inconveniences  and  privations,  to 
which  they  are  willing  to  submit  for  our  sakes,  so  much 
the  greater  do  we  suppose  their  love  for  us  to  be.  We 
infer  that  parents  love  their  children,  because  we  see 
them  willing  to  make  laborious  exertions,  and  to  deny 
themselves  many  comforts,  for  the  sake  of  giving  them 
an  education,  and  of  providing  for  their  future  wants. 
Should  a  servant  readily  consent,  without  the  prospect 
of  reward,  to  accompany  his  banished  master  into  exile 
among  savage  nations,  or  in  frozen  inhospitable  climes, 
we  should  consider  his  conduct  as  indicating  a  very  high 
degree  of  disinterested  affection.  Should  a  person  sell 
himself  for  a  slave,  in  order  to  redeem  his  friend  from 
slavery,  we  should  form  still  more  exalted  ideas  of  the 
strength  of  his  friendship.  Now  what  proofs  of  this 
kind  has  our  Saviour  exhibited  of  the  greatness  of  his 


DEMONSTRATION  OF  CHRIST'S  LOTE.  355 


love  for  us «!  The  Scriptures  fully  answer  this  question  ; 
yet  in  consequence  of  our  situation,  and  our  ignorance 
of  heaven,  we  can  understand  their  answer  but  very  im- 
perfectly. They  tell  us  that,  when  he  was  rich,  he  for 
our  sakes  became  poor,  that  we,  through  his  poverty, 
might  be  rich.  They  tell  us  that,  when  he  was  in  the 
form  of  God,  he  humbled  and  emptied  himself,  and  took 
upon  him  the  form  of  a  servant,  and  was  made  in  the 
likeness  of  sinful  flesh.  They  tell  us  that  he  had  a  glory 
with  his  Father  before  the  world  was  ;  that  he  laid  aside 
this  glory,  and  made  himself  of  no  reputation.  In  a  word, 
they  inform  us  that  he  left  heaven,  and  lived  a  life  of  la- 
bor, poverty,  and  contempt  on  earth.  It  appears  from 
this  account,  then,  that  he  submitted  to  be  deprived  for 
many  years  of  the  glory,  the  society,  and  the  felicity  of 
heaveri,  of  glory  and  felicity  too  great  for  us  to  conceive 
of;  and  that  he  voluntarily  exchanged  all  this  for  the 
lowest  state  on  earth,  and  cheerfully  endured  all  the  in- 
conveniences, privations,  and  wants,  attendant  on  such  a 
state.    All  this  he  submitted  to  because  he  loved  us. 

Now  were  I  speaking  to  angels  or  to  persons  who  had 
seen  heaven,  who  know  what  it  is,  who  know  what  glory 
and  felicity  our  Saviour  enjoyed  there,  who  know  how 
widely  it  differs  from  earth,  and  how  exquisitely  painful 
it  must  be  for  one  so  holy,  so  averse  to  sin,  as  he  was,  to 
live  in  this  sinful  world,  to  witness  the  sjns  of  its  inhabit- 
ants, and  to  endure  the  contradiction  of  sinners  ;  I  say, 
were  I  speaking  to  persons  who  know  all  this,  they  would 
need  nothing  more  to  convince  them,  that  our  Saviour's 
love  wgs  inconceivably  great ;  nothing  more  to  make 
them  exclaim,  Behold  how  he  loved  us  !  But,  alas  !  I 
speak  to  those  who  know  none  of  these  things  ;  or,  at 
least,  who  know  them  but  very  imperfectly.  Indeed  I 
speak  of  what  I  know  almost  nothing  myself.  Little, 
however,  as  we  know  or  can  conceive  of  what  our  Sa- 
viour renounced,  and  of  what  he  submitted  to,  for  our 
sakes,  does  it  not  appear  from  the  preceding  remarks^ 
that  the  love,  which  drew  him  down  from  heaven  to 


356  DEMONSTRATION  OF  CHRIST'S  LOVE. 


earth,  must  have  been  without  a  parallel  great  ?  Is  it 
not  obvious  that  the  love,  which  should  lead  a  monarch 
to  renounce  his  throne,  a  servant  to  follow  his  master 
into  exile,  or  a  man  to  sell  himself  into  slavery  for  the 
redemption  of  his  friend,  would  be  weak  in  comparison 
with  the  love  which  Christ  displayed  for  our  sinful  race, 
when  he  exchanged  heaven  for  earth  to  save  them  ? 

2.  Another  effect  and  indication  of  love  is  a  willing- 
ness to  suffer  pain  for  the  beloved  object.  Other  things 
being  equal,  we  consider  that  love  as  the  greatest  which 
induces  a  willingness  to  suffer  the  greatest  degree  of  pain. 
And  this  is  just  reasoning  ;  for  self-love  makes  us  un- 
willing to  suffer.  Of  course,  when  we  are  willing  to 
suffer  for  the  sake  of  another,  it  proves  that  we  love  him 
as  we  love  ourselves  ;  nay,  that  our  love  for  him  is  suf- 
ficiently strong  to  counteract  the  influence  of  self-love. 
Let  us  then  inquire  what  Christ's  love  for  us  led  him  to 
suffer  for  our  sakes.  But  here  we  labor  under  the  same 
difficulty  which  has  been  already  mentioned  ;  a  difficul- 
ty arising  from  our  ignorance.  We  know  but  little  even 
of  the  bodily  sufferings  which  he  endured  for  our  salva- 
tion. We  know  indeed  that  he  was  scourged  till  the 
naked  bones  appeared  through  his  mangled  flesh  ;  that 
he  was  buffeted,  or  beaten  upon  the  face  ;  that  his  tem- 
ples were  pierced  with  thorns ;  that  he  was  fastened  to 
the  cross  by  nails  driven  through  his  hands  and  feet,  and 
that,  with  his  whole  weight  thus  suspended,  he  hung  for 
six  hours,  bleeding,  parched  with  thirst,  and  agonizing 
in  the  pangs  of  death.  But  though  we  know  these  facts, 
we  know  but  little  of  his  bodily  sufferings.  It  is  one 
thing  to  read  or  hear  of  what  he  suffered,  and  quite 
another  thing  to  form  a  just  conception  of  it.  By  what 
effort  either  of  our  understandings  or  of  our  imagina- 
tions are  we  to  conceive  of  tortures  which  we  never 
felt,  to  conceive  of  the  pangs  of  crucifixion,  to  conceive 
of  the  agonies  inflicted  by  hanging  with  the  whole  weight 
of  the  body  suspended  on  nails  driven  through  the  hands 
and  feet, — parts  of  the  frame  which  are,  perhaps  above 


DEMONSTRATION  OF  CHRIST^  LOVE.  357 

others,  endowed  with  the  most  exquisite  sensibility. 
One  stroke  of  the  scourge,  one  thorn  piercing  our  tem- 
ples, one  of  the  many  repeated  blows  by  which  the  nails 
were  urged  home,  would  probably  give  us  more  lively 
ideas  of  what  our  Saviour  suffered  than  all  our  efforts 
can  excite.  And  yet  the  tortures  which  his  body  en- 
dured were  but  a  part,  and  incomparably  the  smaller 
part  of  his  sufferings.  They  wrung  from  him  no  groan, 
no  expression  of  anguish.  But  his  mental  sufferings 
did  more.  They  wrung  from  him  not  only  groans,  but 
great  drops  of  blood.  Before  he  was  arrested,  and  while 
his  body  was  free  from  pain  he  was,  we  are  told,  in  an 
agony  j  he  exclaimed,  My  soul  is  exceedingly  sorrow- 
ful, even  unto  death  ;  and  his  sweat  was  as  great  drops 
of  blood  falling  down  to  the  ground.  Is  it  asked,  what 
occasioned  this  mental  agony  ?  I  answer,  it  was  the 
curse  of  the  law  which,  we  are  told,  he  bore  for  us.  It 
was  the  hand  of  his  Father,  the  hand  of  omnipotence 
which,  as  the  prophet  informs,  bruised  him  and  put  him 
to  grief.  The  burden  of  man's  guilt  which  he  bore,  the 
weight  of  divine  wrath  which  we  deserved^  was  what 
crushed  him  down.  He  drank  the  cup  which  we  were 
doomed  to  drink,  that  cup  into  which,  an  apostle  tells 
us,  was  poured  the  fierceness  of  the  wrath  of  Almighty 
God.  It  was  of  this  he  said,  Father,  if  it  be  possible, 
let  this  cup  pass  from  me.  It  was  the  agonies  occa- 
sioned by  drinking  this  cup  which  made  him  cry  out. 
My  God,  my  God,  why  hast  thou  forsaken  me  ?  Now 
if  we  cannot  conceive  the  full  extent  of  his  bodily  suffer- 
ings, how  much  less  can  we  conceive  of  the  nameless 
anguish  of  his  soul  ?  Who,  on  this  side  everlasting 
burnings,  can  conceive  what  it  is  to  drink  the  fierceness 
of  the  wrath  of  Almighty  God,  poured  out  without  mix- 
ture into  the  cup  of  his  indignation.  Yet  under  the 
united  pressure  of  all  these  inconceivable  corporeal  and 
mental  agonies,  he  consented  to  die,  and  it  was  love, 
love  for  us,  which  induced  him  to  consent.  Well  then 
may  we  exclaim,  while  standing  by  his  cross,  Behold 


358 


DEMONSTRATION  OF  CHRIST'S  LOVE 


how  he  loved  us  !  He  himself  says,  Greater  love  hath 
no  man  than  this,  that  he  lay  down  his  life  for  his  friend. 
And  the  apostle,  pursuing  the  same  thought,  intimates  it 
to  be  possible  that  for  a  good  man  some  would  even  dare 
to  die.  This  greatest,  strongest  proof  of  love,  our  Sa- 
viour has  given  by  dying  for  us.  And  this  proof  was, 
in  his  case,  peculiarly  strong.  Should  we  consent  to 
die  for  a  friend,  we  should  only  anticipate  a  death  which 
we  must  sooner  or  later  suffer,  because  we  are  mortal. 
But  Christ  was  immortal.  He  was  under  no  necessity 
of  ever  tasting  the  pangs  of  death.  No  man,  says  he, 
taketh  my  life  from  me,  but  I  lay  it  down  of  myself. 
While  we  then,  in  dying  for  a  friend,  only  give  up  a  life 
which  we  must  soon  part  with,  he  gave  up  for  us  a  life 
which  he  might  have  retained  forever.  And  not  only 
so,  but  gave  it  up  in  the  most  painful  manner  possible, 
forsaken  by  his  friends,  insulted  and  mocked  by  his  en- 
emies, and  agonizing  under  a  complication  of  the  most 
excruciating  corporeal  and  mental  tortures.  Yet  he 
had  the  same  natural  aversion  to  suffering  which  we 
feel.  How  great  then  must  have  been  the  strength  of 
his  love  for  us,  since  it  could  so  far  prevail  over  his  love 
for  himself,  as  to  make  him  willing  to  bear  all  this  for  our 
sakes.  Would  either  of  you,  were  yoti  able  to  do  it, 
endure  equal  sufferings  for  the  dearest  object  of  your 
affections  on  earth  ?  If  any  one  replies,  Yes,  while  the 
scourge,  the  thorns  and  the  cross  are  out  of  sight,  yet  I 
cannot  but  suspect  that,  when  they  came  near,  when  he 
began  to  feel  them,  and  above  all,  when  the  bitter  cup 
of  divine  wrath  was  put  to  his  lips,  his  courage  and  his 
love  would  fail.  But  our  Saviour's  love  for  us, — blessed 
be  his  name, — did  not  fail.    It  was  stronger  than  death. 

3.  Another  proof  and  measure  of  love  may  be  found 
in  the  number  and  value  of  the  gifts  which  it  bestows  on 
the  object  beloved.  We  naturally  conclude  that  a  per- 
son, who,  without  any  other  motive  than  disinterested 
affection,  gives  us  great  and  valuable  gifts,  loves  us 
much  ;  and  the  more  numerous  and  costly  his  gifts  are, 


DEMONSTRATION  OF  CHRIST'S  LOVE. 


359 


so  much  the  greater  do  we  think  his  love  to  be.  Tried 
by  this,  as  by  all  other  rules,  our  Saviour's  love  for  us 
will  be  found  beyond  all  comparison  great.    His  gifts 
cannot  be  numbered,  nor  can  their  value  be  computed. 
He  gives  us  himself,  and  all  that  he  possesses.  He 
gives  us  the  pardon  of  numberless  sins,  every  one  of 
which  deserved  death.    He  gives  us  divine  light  to  illu- 
minate our  minds,  divine  grace  to  purify  our  hearts,  and 
divine  consolations  to  comfort  us  in  our  afflictions.  Nay 
more,  he  gives  us  heaven,  gives  us  everlasting  life,  feli- 
city and  glory  ;  gives  us  kingdoms,  crowns,  and  thrones ; 
compared  with  which,  the  sceptre  of  the  most  powerful 
earthly  monarch  is  a  worthless  bauble.   Nor  does  he  give 
what  cost  him  nothing.    No,  he  paid  the  full  price  of 
all  that  he  gives  us ;  and  if  we  estimate  the  value  of  his 
gifts  by  the  price  they  cost  him,  we  shall  be  convinced 
that  they  are  inestimable.    It  would  have  cost  him  infi- 
nitely less  to  give  each  of  us  a  world,  or  many  worlds  ; 
for  to  create  a  world,  costs  him  but  a  word  ;  but  to  pur- 
chase the  gifts  which  he  bestows  on  us  cost  him  his  blood, 
his  life ;  cost  him  all  the  agonies  which  I  have  vainly 
attempted  to  describe.    If  then  we  measure  his  love  by 
the  gifts  he  bestow  on  us,  we  shall  see  that  it  is  bound- 
less, and  we  can  only  cry,  What  manner  of  love  is  this  ? 
Let  no  one  reply,  Where  are  the  gifts  of  which  you  tell 
us  ?    We  have  them  not.    I  answer,  Christ  offers  them 
freely  to  all  of  you,  to  each  of  you,  even  to  the  meanest 
and  the  worst ;  nay  more,  he  urges  and  entreats  you  to 
accept  of  them.    If  you  refuse  or  neglect  to  accept 
them,  the  fault  is  not  his.    The  gift  is  not  less  real,  nor 
the  less  a  proof  of  his  love,  because  you  do  not  choose 
to  accept  it.    All  who  do  accept  his  offers  find  that  they 
are  not  empty  words.    They  enter  on  the  immediate 
enjoyment  of  many  of  his  gifts,  and  receive  an  earnest 
which  secures  to  them  the  final  possession  of  all,  so  that 
they  may  say,  Christ  has  loved  us,  and  washed  us  from 
our  sins  in  bis  own  blood,  and  has  made  us  kings  and 
priests  unto  God,  and  we  shall  live  and  reign  with  him 
forever  and  ever. 


360  DEMONSTRATION  OF  CHRIST'S  LOVE. 


Lastly  ;  love  may  be  measured  by  the  provocations  it 
overlooks,  and  by  the  degree  of  patience  with  which  it 
bears  unkindness  and  ingratitude.  Of  all  the  trials  to 
which  love  can  be  exposed,  this  is  the  most  severe.  To 
love  those  who  are  kind,  affectionate,  and  grateful  for 
our  love,  to  adhere  to  them  in  adversity,  to  suffer  for 
them,  and  load  them  with  favors,  is  comparatively  easy  ; 
nor  does  it  require  a  very  high  degree  of  affection  to  do 
this.  But  to  persevere  in  doing  good  to  the  ungrateful 
and  perverse,  who  are  jealous  and  suspicious,  and  who 
render  us  evil  for  good  ;  to  bear  with  the  most  unrea- 
sonable and  cruel  provocations,  continually  repeated  ; 
to  forgive  again,  and  again,  and  again,  and  still  find  new 
acts  of  forgiveness  called  for  ;  to  see  our  very  kindness 
turned  against  us,  and  yet  to  continue  to  be  kind — this 
is  indeed  the  victory,  the  triumph  of  love,  strong  uncon- 
querable love.  Among  all  the  effects  of  parental  love, 
its  strength  is  so  clearly  displayed  in  nothing  as  the  man- 
ner in  which  it  leads  parents  to  bear  with  the  multiplied 
follies,  the  ingratitude  and  disobedience  of  undutiful  chil- 
dren. But  in  this,  as  in  all  other  respects,  the  love 
which  Christ  has  displayed  for  our  race,  rises  far  above 
a  father's  or  a  mother's  love.  For  more  than  four  thou- 
sands years  before  his  coming,  our  race  were  employed, 
with  very  few  exceptions,  in  disobeying  and  offending 
him.  When  he  came,  instead  of  being  received  by 
mankind  as  their  friend,  and  benefactor,  he  was  hated, 
slandered,  ridiculed,  and  persecuted  with  the  utmost 
virulence  and  malignity.  In  a  similar  manner  he  has 
been  treated  by  mankind  -ever  since.  Even  his  profes- 
sed disciples  often  requite  his  love  with  the  most  cruel 
distrust,  unkindness,  and  ingratitude.  They  show  little 
concern  for  his  honor.  They  are  slow  to  believe,  slow 
to  learn,  and  quick  to  forget  what  he  has  taught  them. 
Every  day,  and  almost  every  hour,  he  has  reason  to  say 
to  them,  O  ye  of  little  faith  !  Do  ye  thus  requite  my  love, 
O  ungrateful  and  unwise  !  All  this  he  foresaw,  when 
he  consented  to  die  for  us  ;  but  the  current  of  his  love 


DEMONSTRATION  OF  CHRIST'S  LOVE.  361 


was  too  deep  and  too  strong  to  be  checked  or  diverted 
from  its  course.  And  notwithstanding  the  innumerable 
slights  and  provocations  which  he  has  received,  and  is 
daily  receiving,  it  still  flows  as  deep  and  strong  as  ever. 
Sabbath  after  Sabbath,  we  make  light  of  his  invitations 
and  treat  him  with  indifference  and  neglect ;  but  he 
overlooks  it  all,  and  comes  again  with  offers  of  mercy, 
again  to  be  slighted.  Year  after  year  he  stands  knock- 
ing at  the  door  of  our  hearts  ;  and,  though  he  finds  them 
closed  against  him,  waits  and  knocks  still.  Generation 
after  generation  of  our  ungrateful  race,  live  and  die  re- 
jecting him ;  yet  his  love  does  not  become  cold  and  he 
still  visits  a  thankless  world  with  messages  of  mercy  and 
offers  of  salvation.  He  endured,  says  an  apostle,  and 
he  still  endures,  the  contradiction  of  sinners  against  him- 
self. Now  was  there  ever  love  like  this,  love  so  perse- 
veringly,  I  had  almost  said,  obstinately,  kind  ?  love  which 
could  glow  with  undiminished  fervor  for  so  many  cen- 
turies, with  nothing  amiable  to  excite  it ;  no  grateful  re- 
turns to  feed  it,  but,  on  the  contrary,  numberless  provo- 
cations to  extinguish  it.  Had  not  his  love  for  our  race 
been  infinitely  stronger  than  any  thing  which  is  called 
love  among  men,  it  would  have  wholly  ceased  some 
thousands  of  years  since,  and  he  would  have  desisted 
from  making  attempts  to  bless  and  save  us.  Well  then 
may  we  lift  up  our  hands  in  wonder  and  exclaim,  Be- 
hold how  he  loves  us  !  Well  may  we  say  of  such  love 
as  this,  many  waters  cannot  quench  it,  neither  can  floods 
drown  it. 

We  have  now  briefly  noticed  the  principal  ways  in 
which  love  makes  itself  visible,  and  by  which  we  may 
estimate  its  strength.  From  what  has  been  said,  it  ap- 
pears, I  conceive,  evident,  that  in  all  these  ways,  in 
submitting  to  privation,  in  enduring  sufferings,  in  bestow- 
ing gifts,  and  in  bearing  with  unkindness,  ingratitude,  and 
perverseness,  our  Saviour  has  displayed  a  love  for  man- 
kind which  has  no  parallel,  a  love  which  is  infinitely  far 
from  being  equalled  by  any  thing  which  the  world  has 
ever  seen.  In  attempting  to  lead  your  minds  to  this 
31 


362  DEMONSTRATION  OF  CHRIST'S  LOVE 


conclusion,  I  have  made  no  appeal  to  your  passions.  I 
ha^e  simply  stated  facts,  and  left  them  to  speak  for 
themselves.  I  am  however  ashamed  to  offer  this  to  you 
as  a  description  of  our  Saviour's  love  for  us.  I  feei, 
most  painfully,  that  I  have  done  no  manner  of  justice  to 
the  subject.  Had  I  the  tongue  of  an  angel,  I  could  not 
do  justice  to  it.  God  himself,  speaking  by  the  mouth 
of  his  inspired  messengers,  could  only  say  that  it  is  un- 
searchable, that  it  passeth  knowledge,  It  is  a  theme 
which  will  employ  the  praises  of  saints  and  angels  through 
a  whole  eternity.  How  then  can  a  weak  mortal  set  it 
before  you  in  the  space  of  a  few  minutes  and  in  the 
compass  of  a  few  pages  ?  I  say  not  this  to  excuse  the 
wretched  manner  in  which  the  subject  has  been  treated. 
But  I  am  jealous  for  my  Master's  honor.  I  fear  that 
this  miserably  imperfect  attempt  to  display  the  greatness 
of  his  love,  will  only  serve  to  lower  it  in  your  estimation. 
God  forbid  that  this  should  be  the  case.  Let  me  be- 
seech you  not  to  judge  of  his  love  by  what  has  now 
been  said  of  it.  Rather  go  and  learn  it  from  the  Bible  ; 
and  unite  with  me  in  the  apostle's  prayer,  that  the  God 
of  light,  the  Father  of  glory,  would  give,  us  all,  the  spir- 
it of  wisdom  and  revelation  in  the  knowledge  of  his  Son, 
the  eyes  of  our  understanding  being  enlightened,  that 
we  may  be  enabled  to  comprehend  what  is  the  length, 
and  breadth,  and  depth,  and  height,  and  to  know  the 
love  of  Christ  which  passeth  knowledge.  A  few  infer- 
ences will  conclude  the  discourse. 

1.  Is  the  love  of  Christ  for  us  so  immeasurably  great  ? 
Then  surely  we  ought  to  return  it.  Our  love  to  him 
ought  to  bear  some  proportion  to  his  love  for  us.  If  his 
love  for  us  is  incomparably  greater  than  that  of  any  of 
our  earthly  friends,  then  we  ought  to  love  him  more  than 
we  love  any  of  our  earthly  friends.  If  he  has  done  and 
suffered  more  for  us  than  any  earthly  benefactor  would 
or  could  do,  we  ought  to  feel  more  grateful  to  him  than 
to  any  earthly  benefactor.  Ingratitude  to  him  must  be 
of  all  ingratitude,  the  most  base  and  inexcusable.  A 
refusal  to  love  him  must  involve  more  criminality  than  a 


DEMONSTRATION  OF  CHRIST'S  LOVE.  363 


refusal  to  love  the  nearest  and  kindest  relative  on  earth. 
It  is  needless  to  prove  these  assertions.  They  bring 
with  them  their  own  evidence.  They  must  come  home 
with  irresistible  conviction  to  the  bosom  of  every  man 
who  believes  what  is  related  of  our  Saviour  in  the  New 
Testament.  There  is  something  in  our  breasts  which 
tells  us,  that  such  love  deserves  a  return  of  affection,  that 
such  benefits  justly  claim  our  gratitude.  The  most  sav- 
age nations  on  earth  need  no  arguments  to  convince  them 
that  parental  love  ought  to  be  returned,  no  motive  to  in- 
duce them  to  detest  the  character  of  an  ungrateful,  un- 
dutiful  child.  But  every  reason  which  can  be  assigned 
why  a  child  should  love  and  be  grateful  to  his  parents, 
may  be  urged  with  far  greater  force  to  prove,  that  the 
increase  of  love  and  gratitude  to  our  Redeemer  is  an  in- 
dispensable duty,  and  that  the  neglect  of  this  duty  is  in 
the  highest  degree  criminal  and  base.  Would  not  the 
Jews  have  thought  it  strange,  would  not  you  think  it 
strange,  had  Lazarus,  after  his  resurrection,  manifested 
no  affection  for  the  friend  who  wept  over  his  grave,  and 
raised  him  from  the  dead  ?  But,  O,  how  small  were 
these  favors,  these  proofs  of  love  to  Lazarus,  in  compar- 
ison with  the  favors,  the  proofs  of  love  which  the  Saviour 
has  shown  to  us  ! 

2.  Let  me  further  improve  the  subject  by  urging  all 
who  have  hitherto  neglected  the  Saviour  to  return  his 
love  without  longer  delay.  Are  not  your  understandings 
convinced,  do  not  your  consciences  testify  that  you  ought 
to  do  this  ?  And  can  your  hearts  then  stand  out  in  op- 
position, not  only  to  the  Saviour's  love,  but  to  your  own 
understandings  and  consciences  ?  If  they  can,  you  must 
surely  cease  to  talk  of  the  goodness  of  your  hearts.  You 
must  surely  cease  to  flatter  yourselves  that  you  are  ca- 
pable of  real  gratitude  or  affection,  or  that  you  possess 
any  real  sensibility  ;  for  where  is  the  goodness,  the  grat- 
itude, or  the  sensibility  of  that  heart  which  can  see  what 
Christ  has  done  and  felt  for  it,  without  returning  his  af- 
fection ?  If  then  you  would  prove  that  you  are  not  to- 
tally devoid  of  all  these  qualities,  begin  this  day  to  return 


3G4  DEMONSTRATION  OF  CHKISt's  LOVE 


his  love  ;  or,  at  least,  to  reproach  and  condemn  your- 
selves far  having  so  long  neglected  to  do  it.  And  let 
all  who  feel  consciously  sinful  and  guilty,  and  who  are 
deterred  by  conscious  guilt  and  unworthiness  from  ap- 
proaching the  Saviour,  take  encouragement  from  the 
wonderful  love  which  he  has  displayed  for  our  race,  and 
approach  him  with  full  confidence  and  without  the  small- 
est delay.  Trembling  sinner,  how  can  you  fear  to  ap- 
proach such  love  as  this  ?  What  can  you  have  to  fear 
in  approaching  one,  whose  love  for  you  has  already  led 
him  to  the  cross  ?  Will  he,  can  he,  who  voluntarily 
suffered  all  this  for  your  salvation,  hurt  you,  or  frown 
upon  you,  when  you  come  to  him  for  mercy  ?  O,  then 
come  to  Christ.    Whosoever  will,  let  him  come. 

But  whether  I  am,  or  am  not  successful,  while  plead- 
ing the  Saviour's  cause  with  sinners,  surely  I  cannot,  my 
professing  friends,  be  unsuccessful  while  I  plead  it  with 
you.  You  profess  to  know  something  of  his  love. 
You  know  that  all  heaven  wonders  and  is  astonished 
while  it  sees  what  its  Lord  has  done  for  you.  And  will 
not  you  then  wonder  and  adore  ?  Can  you  doubt  the 
reality  or  the  strength  of  that  love  which  has  been  so 
strangely  displayed  ?  Can  you  any  more  distrust  the 
Saviour's  love,  because  he  sometimes  afflicts  you  ?  Do 
you  not  perceive  that  he  would  much  rather  afflict  him- 
self, than  afflict  you,  were  not  affliction  necessary? 
Would  he  not  rather  wound  the  apple  of  his  eye,  than 
wound  you,  did  not  your  own  happiness  require  it  ? 
Most  evidently  he  would  ;  for  all  that  he  could  suffer  in 
your  stead  he  has  cheerfully  suffered  ;  and  he  would 
have  cheerfully  suffered  all  your  afflictions,  would  it  have 
answered  the  same  purpose  to  you — it  would  have  been 
adding  one  drop  more  to  the  bitter  cup.  He  never  af- 
flicted you  to  shield  himself.  Whenever  the  question 
was,  shall  I  suffer  this,  or  shall  my  people  suffer  it  ?  shall 
I  drink  this  cup,  or  shall  my  people  drink  it  ?  he  never 
hesitated  a  moment  to  take  it  all  upon  himself.  And 
he  would  with  equal  cheerfulness  suffer  all  your  afflic- 
tions for  you,  and  allow  you  to  live  in  uninterrupted 


DEMONSTRATION  OF  CHRIST^  LOVE.  365 

peace  and  prosperity,  did  not  your  own  good  require 
that  you  should  sometimes  suffer  in  your  own  persons. 
And  he  still  sympathizes  with  you  in  all  that  you  neces- 
sarily suffer.  His  word  teaches  you  that,  in  all  your 
afflictions,  he  is  afflicted,  and  he  assures  his  people  that 
whosoever  touches  them  touches  the  apple  of  his  eye. 
How  can  you  doubt  whether  he  who  says  this,  he  who 
gave  himself,  his  life,  his  blood,  for  you,  will  deny  you 
any  thing  which  he  sees  to  be  really  necessary  to  your 
happiness ;  whether  he  would  hesitate  to  give  you  a 
world  or  many  worlds,  if  your  happiness  would  be  in- 
creased by  the  gift  ?  How  can  you  doubt  that  he  would 
as  soon  cut  off  his  right  hand,  as  take  away  from  you  a 
partner,  a  child,  a  relative,  or  give  you  the  smallest  pain, 
unless  he  saw  it  to  be  necessary  ?  O,  then,  what  rea- 
son have  we  for  sorrow,  shame,  and  self-reproach,  if  we 
have  ever  been  tempted  by  affliction,  to  doubt  his  love  ; 
and  still  more,  if  we  have  been  led  by  it  to  murmur  or 
repine  !  Let  us,  then,  never  more  be  guilty  of  this 
conduct.  Let  us  not  stab  to  the  heart  our  already  deep- 
ly wounded  Saviour,  by  distrusting  that  love  of  which  he 
has  given  us  such  infallible  proofs ;  or  murmuring  at 
those  afflictions  which  he  sends  in  love,  and  for  our 
good.  Let  us  rather  say  with  the  apostle,  the  love  of 
Christ  constraineth  us,  to  Jive  not  to  ourselves,  but  to 
him  who  died  for  us. 


31* 


SERMON  XXVI. 

Christ's  special  Tenderness  towards  penitent  Disciples 


MARK  XVI.  7. 

60  YOUR  WAY,  TELL  HIS  DISCIPLES,  AND  PETER,  THAT  HE  GOETH 
BEFORE  YOU  INTO  GALILEE  ;  THERE  SHALL  YE  SEE  HIM,  AS  HE 
SAID  UNTO  YOU. 

These  words  were  spoken  by  an  extraordinary  mes- 
senger, in  a  most  interesting  place,  on  a  memorable 
occasion.  They  were  spoken  by  an  angel,  in  the  sep- 
ulchre of  Christ,  just  after  his  resurrection.  They  were 
addressed  to  a  company  of  women  who,  with  a  strange 
mixture  of  love  to  Christ,  and  disbelief,  or  forgetfulness 
of  his  prediction  that  he  should  rise  from  the  dead,  had 
come  to  embalm  his  remains.  But  instead  of  a  dead 
Saviour,  they  found  in  his  tomb  an  angel,  who  soon  re- 
moved the  fears  which  his  appearance  occasioned  by 
saying,  Fear  not,  for  I  know  that  ye  seek  Jesus  who 
was  crucified.  He  is  not  here,  he  is  risen.  Go,  tell 
his  disciples,  and  Peter,  that  he  goeth  before  you  into 
Galilee  ;  there  shall  ye  see  him,  as  he  said  unto  you. 

It  must  be  recollected,  that  this  angel  was  a  messen- 
ger of  Christ,  and  that  from  him  he  had  doubtless  re- 
ceived the  message.  A  question  naturally  suggests  itself, 
why  our  Lord,  in  giving  him  this  message,  directed  him 
to  make  this  particular  mention  of  Peter.  The  angel 
had  said,  Go,  tell  his  disciples ;  and  did  not  this  gene- 
ral term  include  Peter  ?  Was  not  he  one  of  the  disci- 
ples ?  He  was ;  but  he  was,  at  this  time,  a  fallen  dis- 
ciple.   Three  days  before,  he  had  denied  his  Master 


cheist's  special  tenderness,  &c.  367 

in  the  most  shameful  and  criminal  manner.  And  as  he 
had  then  disowned  his  Master,  he  might  well  fear ;  he 
probably  did  fear,  that  his  Master  would  disown  him  ; 
and  no  longer  consider  or  treat  him  as  a  disciple.  But 
though  Peter  had  fallen,  he  had  also  repented  of  his 
fall.  No  sooner  was  his  sin  committed,  than,  melted 
by  a  look  from  his  much  injured  Master,  he  went  out 
and  wept  bitterly.  And  by  making  an  early  visit  to  his 
Master's  tomb  on  the  morning  of  the  third  day,  he  shew- 
ed that  he  still  loved  him ;  that  his  fall  was  the  effect  of 
sudden  and  powerful  temptation,  rather  than  of  delibe- 
rate wickedness.  But  though  penitent,  he  could  not 
be  certain  of  pardon  ;  and  had  the  message  in  our  text 
been  addressed  to  the  disciples  only,  he  would  probably 
have  doubted,  whether  he  might  consider  it  as  includ- 
ing himself.  Such  doubts,  however,  his  kind  and  for- 
giving Master  took  care  to  banish  by  directing  his  mes- 
senger to  mention  Peter  particularly  by  name ;  and  to 
inform  him  that  his  Master  was  ready  to  admit  him  into 
his  presence,  and  fulfil  the  promise  which  he  had  made 
before  his  death. 

My  hearers,  our  blessed  Saviour  is,  yesterday,  to-day, 
and  forever,  the  same.  He  is  governed  by  principles 
and  measures  which  are,  like  himself,  unchangeable  ; 
and  we  may  therefore  conclude  that,  as  he  has  acted 
once,  he  will  always  act  in  similar  circumstances.  If  he 
formerly  had  a  special  regard  for  fallen  disciples,  who 
had  been  overtaken  in  a  fault,  and  who,  though  truly 
penitent,  were  doubtful  whether  he  would  forgive  them, 
he  has  the  same  regard  for  such  characters  still ;  and 
if  he  then  directed  his  messenger  to  remind  them  of  his 
promises  in  a  particular  manner,  he  still  directs  his  min- 
isters to  do  the  same.  His  instructions  are,  Comfort 
ye,  comfort  ye,  my  mourning  people ;  strengthen  the 
weak  hands,  arid  say  to  them  who  are  of  a  fearful  heart, 
Be  strong,  fear  not,  your  God  will  save  you. 

In  discoursing  further  on  this  subject,  I  propose  to 
shew  why  Christ  has  such  a  special  regard  to  his  mourn- 


368  Christ's  special  tenderness 

ing,  penitent  disciples,  who,  in  consequence  of  their  sins, 
doubt  whether  he  will  acknowledge  or  forgive  them. 

I.  That  Christ  should  pay  a  special  regard,  and  send 
particular  invitations,  to  persons  of  this  description,  is 
perfectly  agreeable  to  his  character.  It  is  so,  whether 
we  view  him  as  man,  or  as  God,  or  as  God  and  man 
united  in  the  person  of  the  Mediator.  It  is  agreeable  to 
his  character  considered  as  a  man.  Viewed  in  this  light, 
he  possesses  all  the  innocent  dispositions  and  character- 
istics of  our  nature.  Now  I  need  not  inform  you,  that 
men  are  disposed,  almost  perhaps  without  exception,  to 
regard  with  peculiar  favor,  and  to  treat  with  special  kind- 
ness, those  who  appear  humble,  modest  and  diffident." 
Were  you  about  to  invite  a  number  of  persons  to  visit 
you ;  and  were  there  one  among  them,  whom  you  had  rea- 
son to  believe  would,  in  consequence  of  diffidence  or 
conscious  unworthiness,  be  scarcely  persuaded  to  think 
himself  welcome,  you  would  send  that  person  a  pecu- 
liarly pressing  invitation,  and  treat  him  on  his  arrival 
with  perhaps  more  than  ordinary  kindness.  In  a  simi- 
lar manner  you  would  treat  an  offending  but  penitent 
child,  who,  broken-hearted  on  account  of  his  fault,  could 
scarcely  think  it  possible  that  you  would  ever  Again  love 
him  as  you  had  formerly  done.  Now  this  disposition 
our  Saviour,  viewed  as  man,  possesses  in  the  highest 
degree  ;  and  this  alone,  were  there  no  other  reason, 
would  induce  him  to  treat  mourning,  penitent  offenders 
with  peculiar  kindness. 

Nor  is  this  mode  of  conduct  less  agreeable  to  his 
character  considered  as  God.  As  such  he  says,  I  dwell 
with  him  who  is  of  a  humble  and  contrite  heart,  to  re- 
vive the  spirit  of  the  humble,  and  to  revive  the  heart  of 
the  contrite  ones.  To  this  man  will  I  look,  even  to 
to  him  that  is  of  a  contrite  spirit  and  that  trembleth  at 
my  word.  Though  the  Lord  be  high,  he  hath  respect 
unto  the  lowly,  and  giveth  grace  unto  the  humble. 

Still  more  agreeable,  if  possible,  is  this  mode  of  pro- 
ceeding to  the  character  of  Christ,  viewed  as  God  and 
man  united  in  the  person  of  the  Mediator.    In  this  char- 


TOWARDS  PENITENT  DISCIPLES.  369 

acter  he  combines  all  the  disposition  of  man  and  all  the 
readiness  of  God  to  treat  with  peculiar  kindness  the 
mourning  penitent.  In  this  character  he  said,  Blessed 
are  the  poor  in  spirit,  for  theirs  is  the  kingdom  of  heav- 
en. Blessed  are  they  that  mourn,  for  they  shall  be  com- 
forted ;  and  he  is  sufficiently  disposed  to  fulfil  his  own 
declaration.  This  too  is  the  character  in  which  it  was 
said  of  him,  The  bruised  reed  he  will  not  break,  and  the 
smoking  flax  he  will  not  quench  ;  expressions,  in  which 
a  weak,  a  penitent  sinner,  borne  down  with  a  weight  of 
conscious  guilt  is  figuratively,  but  very  beautifully  and 
strikingly  described. 

This  leads  us  to  observe, 

II.  That  to  regard  mourning,  desponding  penitents 
with  peculiar  favor  perfectly  corresponds  with  the  offices 
which  Christ  sustains,  and  with  the  object  for  which  he 
came  into  the  world.  He  came  to  proclaim  glad  tidings 
to  the  meek,  to  comfort  all  that  mourn,  to  give  them 
beauty  for  ashes,  the  oil  of  joy  for  mourning,  and  the 
garments  of  praise  for  the  spirit  of  heaviness.  He  came 
as  a  shepherd  to  bring  back  those  who  had  been  driven 
away,  to  bind  up  those  who  are  bruised,  and  to  heal 
those  who  are  sick  ;  in  a  word,  he  came  to  seek  and  to 
save  the  lost,  those  who  without  him  feel  lost  and  undone. 
He  must  therefore,  in  accomplishing  the  object  for  which 
he  came,  comfort  all  who  mourn  for  siir*and  regard  them 
with  peculiar  kindness.  With  such  characters  indeed  his 
business  principally  is ;  for  whom  should  the  physician 
visit,  but  the  sick ;  and  whom  should  he  visit  first  and 
most  frequently,  for  whom  should  he  feel  most  tenderly 
concerned,  but  those  whose  moral  diseases  are  most  pain- 
ful, who  view  themselves  as  sick  unto  death  ? 

III.  A  third  reason  why  our  Saviour  treats  such 
characters  with  peculiar  tenderness  is,  that  they  are  pre- 
pared to  receive  forgiveness  and  consolation  in  a  proper 
manner.  He  pities  all.  He  is  ready  and  disposed  to 
impart  his  blessings  to  all.  But  he  can  impart  his  bless- 
ings only  in  a  certain  way,  in  a  way  consistent  with  the 
glory  of  God,  and  the  honor  of  his  law.    Now  in  this  way 


370 


Christ's  special  tenderness 


he  can  bestow  pardon  and  consolation  on  those  only,  who 
truly  repent  and  mourn  for  sin.  Were  he  to  pardon  and 
save  the  impenitent,  who  feel  no  sorrow  for  sin,  who 
scarcely  perceive  that  they  are  sinners,  who  still  persist 
in  pursuing  a  sinful  course,  and  even  justify  themselves 
in  it,  he  would  dishonor  his  Father,  prostrate  his  author- 
ity and  law,  and  become  in  effect  the  patron  of  rebels, 
the  minister  of  sin.  In  fact,  he  cannot  pardon  such 
characters  ;  for  they  will  not  accept  of  pardon  ;  they 
feel  no  need  of  it.  Nor  can  he  impart  to  them  spiritual 
consolation  ;  for  they  have  no  spiritual  troubles  to  be 
removed.  However  much  disposed  you  might  be,  my 
hearers,  to  pardon  and  befriend  one  who  had  injured 
you,  yet  if  he  refused  to  acknowledge  that  he  had  done 
you  any  injury  ;  if  he  rejected  every  offer  of  pardon,  if 
he  still  persisted  in  his  injurious  conduct,  you  evidently 
could  not  force  him  to  receive  your  forgiveness  ;  nor 
could  you  compel  him  to  be  your  friend.  How  then  can 
Christ  pardon  those  who  will  not  accept  of  pardon  ;  how 
comfort  those  who  are  not  distressed?  Or,  to  allude  to 
the  case  mentioned  in  our  text,  what  would  it  have 
availed  to  send  Peter  the  message  under  consideration, 
to  inform  him  that  Christ  was  ready  to  meet  him  in  Gal- 
ilee, if  he  had  felt  no  love  to  Christ,  no  sorrow  for  hav- 
ing offended  him,  no  wish  to  see  him  1  As  little  would 
it  now  avail,  to  offer  pardon  and  salvation  through  Christ, 
or  to  send  messages  and  invitations  of  mercy  to  those 
who  do  not  mourn  for  sin,  nor  even  feel  that  they  are 
sinners.  But  when  a  man  feels  that  this  is  his  charac- 
ter, when  he  cordially  acknowledges  that  he  has  viola- 
ted the  divine  law,  and  the  precepts  of  the  gospel,  and 
that  in  consequence  he  deserves  God's  everlasting  dis- 
pleasure ;  when,  like  Peter,  he  weeps  bitterly  over  his 
offences,  and  is  ready  to  fear  that  one  so  vile  and  un- 
worthy as  himself  can  never  be  pardoned,  or  received 
as  a  disciple,  then  he  is  prepared  to  receive  pardon  and 
consolation  in  a  proper  manner  ;  then  Christ  can  impart 
to  him  these  blessings  ;  then  he  will  receive  them  with 
humble,  admiring  gratitude  ;  and,  like  pardoned  Peter, 


TOWARDS  PENITENT  DISCIPLES,  371 


will  consecrate  the  remainder  of  his  life  to  the  service  of 
his  kind,  condescending  Saviour,  loving  much,  because 
much  has  been  forgiven. 

IV.    Another  reason  why  Christ  treats  persons  whose 
character  and  situation  resemble  those  of  Peter  with  pe- 
culiar kindness,  is,  that  they  peculiarly  need  such  treat- 
ment.   St.  Paul,  after  directing  the  Corinthian  church 
to  restore  an  offending,  but  penitent  brother,  adds  as  a 
reason  why  they  should  do  it  speedily,  lest  he  be  swal- 
lowed up  with  overmuch  sorrow.    Of  this  there  is  always 
danger  in  the  case  of  persons  whose  situation  resembles 
that  of  Peter.    Their  case  will  admit  of  no  delay.  Their 
doubts  and  anxieties  must  be  speedily  removed,  or  de- 
spondency, if  not  complete  despair,  will  be  the  conse- 
quence.   Had  Christ,  after  his  resurrection,  treated 
Peter  with  harshness,  or  even  with  neglect,  he  might 
like  Judas,  have  destroyed  himself  in  sullen  despair. 
And  while  it  is  thus  necessary  that  such  persons  should 
be  speedily  comforted,  it  is  by  no  means  easy  to  corn- 
fort  them.    They  seem  to  themselves  so  vile,  so  utterly 
undeserving  of  pardon,  so  worthy  of  everlasting  punish- 
ment, that  no  general  promises,  no  common  invitations, 
are  sufficient  to  remove  their  guilty  fears,  and  give  them 
confidence  and  peace.   Messages  of  kindness,  addressed 
to  Christ's  disciples  at  large,  afford  them  no  consolation  ; 
for  they  doubt  whether  they  are  his  disciples.  Christ 
must  therefore  send  them  a  particular  assurance  of  par- 
don ;  he  must  address  them  as  it  were  by  name,  and 
with  an  aspect  of  peculiar  graciousness,  before  they  will 
believe  his  readiness  to  receive  and  forgive  them.  All 
this  our  wise  and  compassionate  Redeemer  well  knows ; 
and  he  acts  accordingly ;  displayiug  his  kindness  most 
clearly  to  those  who  feel  most  unworthy  of  it ;  and  most 
speedily  to  those  who  immediately  need  it. 

Lastly  :  Christ  regards  mourning  penitents  with  pe- 
culiar favor,  because  he  is  himself  the  author  of  their  re- 
pentance. He  is  exalted,  we  are  told,  as  a  Prince 
and  a  Saviour,  to  give  repentance  and  remission  of  sins 
to  his  people.    Whenever  they  repent,  it  is  because  he 


372 


Christ's  special  tenderness 


has  given  them  repentance.  He  had  given  it  to  Peter. 
He  had  given  him  a  look  which  broke  his  heart,  and 
caused  him  to  go  out  and  weep  bitterly.  In  a  similar 
manner  he  has  looked  at  all  who  mourn  for  sin  with 
godly  sorrow.  He  has  fulfilled  to  them  the  promise 
which  says,  I  will  pour  upon  my  people  the  spirit  of 
grace  and  supplication,  and  they  shall  look  on  me  whom 
they  have  pierced,  and  mourn,  as  one  that  mourneth  for 
a  first-born.  Having  thus  begun  a  good  work  in  them, 
he  must  finish  it.  Having  given  them  repentance,  he 
must  give  them  pardon ;  for  when  he  bestows  the  for- 
mer, it  is  on  purpose  to  prepare  them  for  the  latter. 

Such,  my  hearers,  are  some  of  the  principal  reasons 
why  Christ  regards  mourning,  penitent  sinners  with  pe- 
culiar favor,  and  treats  them  with  peculiar  kindness. 
A  brief  improvement  of  the  subject  will  now  conclude 
the  discourse. 

1.  If  all  men  possessed  the  character  of  Peter ;  if  all, 
like  him,  saw  and  lamented  their  sins,  how  inexpressibly 
delightful  would  be  the  employment  of  the  ministers  of 
Christ !  Then  our  message  would  indeed  be  glad  ti- 
dings ;  we  should  have  nothing  to  do  but  to  proclaim 
glad  tidings  to  all.  No  more  should  we  be  constrained 
to  perform  the  painful  duty  of  setting  your  sins  before 
you,  and  of  proclaiming  the  terrors  of  the  Lord  5  no 
more  accusations,  no  more  threatenings,  no  mention  of 
wrath  to  come,  would  you  then  bear  from  our  lips.  We 
might  sit  as  messengers  of  peace  in  our  Saviour's  forsa- 
ken tomb,  and  say  to  all,  Peace  be  unto  you  ;  be  not 
afraid, — ye  seek  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  and  ye  shall  soon 
see  him  in  heaven.  O,  it  would  be  too  much  ;  happi- 
ness too  great,  too  transporting,  thus  to  proclaim  pardon 
and  salvation  to  all,  and  to  see  all  joyfully  receive  these 
blessings ;  to  address  precious  promises  to  every  one 
by  name,  and  to  know  that  every  one  hears  and  believes 
these  promises ;  to  pour  the  water  of  life  into  the  lips 
of  the  dying  and  of  the  dead,  and  see  them  start  up  to 
life  and  holy  activity ;  to  see  tears  of  repentance  ming- 
led with  smiles  of  heaven-descended  joy,  and  hear  the 


TOWARDS  PENITENT  DISCIPLES.  373 

expressions  of  doubt,  and  fear,  and  anxiety,  exchanged 
for  the  rapturous  accents  of  wonder,  and  thankfulness, 
and  peace,  and  love.  And  why  may  we  not  see  and 
hear  all  this  ?  Why  may  we  not  always  proclaim  only 
glad  tidings,  and  see  them  produce  universal  gladness  ? 
Why  must  our  pained  lips  still  give  utterance  to  messa- 
ges of  divine  wraih  ;  and  speak  of  a  death  without  hope ; 
of  a  judgment  without  mercy  ;  of  a  hell  without  end  ; 
of  a  despairing  eternity  ?  Only,  I  answer,  only  because 
you  will  not  all  repent  of,  and  mourn  for  sin.  Only  do 
this,  and  you  will  never  more  hear  of  your  sins,  except 
as  having  been  fully  pardoned  ;  of  death,  except  as  a 
messenger,  who  is  to  convey  you  to  heaven  ;  nor  of  the 
judgment  day,  except  as  of  the  day  which  is  to  witness 
your  open  acknowledgment  by  the  Judge  as  his  friend  ; 
nor  of  hell,  except  as  a  place,  the  danger  of  which  you 
have  forever  escaped  ;  nor  of  eternity,  except  as  it 
measures  the  duration  of  your  happiness.  O  then,  my 
hearers,  why  will  you  not  all  repent  of  sin,  all  mourn  for 
sin,  all  renounce  your  sins  ?  Will  it  not  most  terribly 
aggravate  your  remorse,  and  your  wretchedness  in  the 
future  world  to  reflect,  that  the  pardon  of  your  sins, 
the  special  regard  and  favor  of  Christ,  and  everlasting 
happiness  might  once  have  been  secured,  by  renouncing 
and  mourning  for  your  sins ;  sins  which  only  serve  to 
render  you  unhappy  even  in  the  present  life  ?  Do  any 
reply,  we  know  nGt  what  are  the  sins  which  we  must 
renounce,  or  for  which  we  must  mourn  ?  We  have  not* 
like  Peter,  denied  Christ,  and  need  not,  therefore,  re- 
pent as  he  did.  Alas,  my  hearers,  we  have  all  denied 
Christ.  I  have  done  it ;  you  have  done  it.  He  con- 
siders all  as  denying  him,  who  do  not  confess  him  be- 
fore men.  He  considers  all,  who  do  verbally  confess 
him,  as  denying  him,  when  they  do  not  act  agreeably 
to  their  professions.  In  one,  or  in  both  of  these  ways, 
we  have  all  denied  him,  and  crucified  him  afresh.  We 
have  denied  him  in  a  manner  even  more  criminal  than 
that  of  which  Peter  was  guilty.  He  denied  him  on  a 
sudden  surprise,  when  he  saw  him  in  the  hands  of  his 
32 


374  Christ's  special  tenderness 

enemies,  when  to  confess  relation  to  him  was  to  incur 
contempt,  abuse,  punishment,  perhaps  death  itself.  We 
have  no  dangers  of  this  kind  to  tempt  us  to  deny  Christ, 
our  Saviour  ;  nor  have  we  denied  him  once  only,  or  on 
a  sudden  surprisal,  but  we  have  denied  him  deliberately, 
repeatedly ;  have  persisted  in  our  denial  of  him  for 
years.    Even  now  many  of  you  are  about  to  go  from 
his  table,  and  thus  to  say,  by  your  conduct,  I  am  not  a 
servant  of  Christ ;  I  do  not  acknowledge  him  as  my 
Master ;  I  do  not  wish  to  remember  him.    And  you, 
my  friends,  who  will  remain  and  approach  his  table, — 
have  not  you  formerly  done  this  ?  and  are  not  some  of 
you  still  in  various  ways  denying,  offending,  and  griev- 
ing him,  when  you  profess  to  come,  in  a  manner  no  less 
criminal  than  the  conduct  of  Peter  ?    Now  these  are 
the  sins  which  you  are  required  to  mourn  over  and 
confess.    For  these  sins  every  one  has  reason  to  mourn 
apart.    And  will  you,  can  you,  do  you  mourn  for  these 
sins  ?    Are  any  of  you  looking  to  him,  whom  you  have 
pierced  by  your  neglect,  unkindness,  and  ingratitude  ; 
looking  to  him  on  the  cross,  where  lifted  up  he  draws 
the  hearts  of  sinners  to  himself?  Do  you  there  see  him 
as  it  were  looking  at  you  with  a  reproving,  expostulating, 
yet  mild  and  forgiving  look,  and  hear  him  saying,  Did 
I  suffer  all  this  for  thee,  O  sinner  ?  and  is  this  thy  re- 
turn ?    Dost  thou  not  know  thy  Saviour?    Dost  thou 
deny  him  who  dies  here  for  thee  ?  and  wilt  thou,  by 
persisting  in  thy  denial,  compel  me  to  deny  thee  hereaf- 
ter before  my  Father  and  the  holy  angels  ?    My  hear- 
ers, if  this  dying  love  leads  any  of  you  to  repentance  ; 
if  any  of  you  are,  like  Peter,  seeking  a  place  where  to 
weep;  if  your  past  treatment  of  the  Saviour  appears 
most  ungrateful,  cruel,  and  monstrous  ;  if  in  consequence 
you  feel  worthy  of  his  everlasting  displeasure  ;  then,  in 
his  name  1  say,  peace  be  unto  you  ;  your  sins  are  for- 
given, be  not  afraid.    Are  there  any  whose  guilt  seems 
to  them  so  great,  who  feel  so  unworthy,  that  they  can- 
not be  satisfied  with  general  assurances  of  pardon,  can- 
not yet  believe  that  Christ  acknowledges  and  loves  them 


TOWARDS  PENITENT  DISCIPLES.  375 


as  his  disciples  ?  To  such  Christ  directs  us  to  speak 
as  it  were  by  name,  to  say  to  each  of  them,  Christ  loves 
thee,  and  gave  himself  for  thee.  He  was  delivered 
for  thy  sins,  and  raised  again  for  thy  justification. 
Come,  see  the  place,  where  thy  Lord,  thy  surety  lay. 
See,  he  is  released  ;  thy  surety  is  discharged,  a  suffi- 
cient proof  that  the  debt  is  paid,  that  thy  creditor  is  sat- 
isfied. Christ  is  gone  before  thee  into  heaven,  to  ap- 
pear for  thee  in  the  presence  of  God,  as  thy  advocate 
and  representative.  There  shalt  thou  see  him,  as  he 
has  said.  There  shalt  thou  be  like  him,  there  shalt 
thou  behold  his  glory  forever  and  ever. 

My  professing  friends,  what  encouragement  does  this 
subject  afford  all  penitent,  yet  doubting,  trembling  char- 
acters to  approach  the  table  of  our  Lord.  If  any  of 
you  cannot  take  this  encouragement,  it  is  because  you 
are  not  in  a  penitent  frame.  Remember  the  message 
in  our  text  was  sent,  not  to  Peter  falling,  but  to  Pe- 
ter mourning.  Remember  then  from  whence  you  are 
fallen,  and  repent,  and  this  message  shall  be  your  con- 
solation. 


SERMON  XXVII. 

The  End  of  Time. 


REVELATION  X.  5,  6,  7. 

And  the  angel  whom  i  saw  stand  upon  the  sea  and  upon  the 
earth,  lifted  up  his  hand  to  heaven;  and  sware  by  him 
that  liveth  forever  and  ever,  who  created  heaven  and 
the  things  that  therein  are,  and  the  earth  and  the  things 
that  therein  are,  and  the  sea  and  the  things  which  are 
therein,  that  there  should  be  time  no  longer  :  bdt  in  the 
days  of  the  voice  of  the  seventh  angel,  when  he  shall 
begin  to  sound,  the  mystery  of  god  should  be  finished,  as 
he  hath  declared  to  his  servants  the  prophets. 

In  the  commencement  of  this  chapter  St.  John  in- 
forms us,  that  he  saw  in  vision  a  mighty  angel  descend 
from  heaven,  clothed  with  a  cloud,  and  having  a  rain- 
bow upon  his  head,  while  his  countenance  shone  resplen- 
dent as  the  sun,  and  his  feet  were  like  pillars  of  fire. 
This  angel,  placing  one  foot  upon  the  land  and  the  other 
upon  the  sea,  lifted  his  hand  to  heaven,  and  swore  by 
the  everlasting  God,  who  created  the  heavens,  the  earth, 
and  the  sea,  with  all  which  they  contain,  and  who  there- 
fore possesses  both  the  right  and  the  power  to  prescribe 
limits  to  their  duration,  that  there  should  be  time  no 
longer ;  but  that  in  the  days  of  the  voice  of  the  seventh 
angel,  when  he  shall  begin  to  sound,  the  mystery  of  God 
shall  be  finished,  as  he  hath  declared  to  his  servants  the 
prophets. 

My  hearers,  we  have  witnessed,  and  perhaps  reflect- 
ed and  moralized  on  the  lapse  of  time.  In  this  passage 
we  are  called  to  contemplate  its  termination.  We  are 
called  to  see  that  current,  on  whose  bosom  we  have 


THE  END  OF  TIME 


been  borne  ever  since  our  existence  commenced,  swal- 
lowed up  in  the  ocean  of  eternity.  This  forms  a  most 
interesting  object  of  contemplation ;  but  it  is  too  vast^ 
and  embraces  too  many  particulars,  to  be  seen  by  us  at 
once  as  a  whole.  Let  us,  then,  divide  it  into  parts,  and 
consider  them  separately.  The  several  particulars  which 
it  is  necessary  to  consider  may  be  included  in  an  answer 
to  the  three  following  questions  : 

What  is  meant  by  the  end  of  time  ? 

When  will  the  event  denoted  by  this  phrase  arrive  ? 

What  will  be  the  attending  circumstances  and  conse- 
quences of  this  event  ? 

I.  What  is  meant  by  the  end  of  time  ?  or,  in  other 
words,  by  the  declaration,  There  shall  be  time  no  longer  ? 

Time,  so  far  as  man  has  any  concern  with  it,  is  that 
portion  of  duration  which  is  commensurate  with  the  exist- 
ence of  our  world,  and  which  is  measured  by  its  diurnal 
and  annual  revolutions.  It  began  when  this  world  be- 
gan to  exist.  Agreeably  we  are  informed  that,  in  the 
beginning,  that  is  the  beginning  of  time,  God  created 
the  heavens  and  the  earth.  Previous  to  this  event  there 
was,  properly  speaking,  no  such  thing  as  time.  There 
was  duration,  there  was  eternity,  but  time  there  was 
none.  So  long  as  this  world  continues  to  exist,  time 
will  continue  ;  and  when  it  shall  cease  to  exist,  the  end 
of  time  will  have  arrived  ;  or,  in  the  language  of  our 
text,  there  will  be  time  no  longer.  The  end  of  time, 
and  the  end  of  the  world,  are,  then,  expressions  of  the 
same  import. 

II.  When  will  the  event  denoted  by  these  expres- 
sions arrive  ?  „  We  learn  from  our  text  that  it  will  ar- 
rive when  the  mystery  of  God  shall  be  finished.  To 
that  period  the  oath  of  the  angel  refers ;  and  when  that 
period  arrives,  there  shall  be  time  no  longer.  By  the 
mystery  of  God  is  intended  the  design,  or  object,  for 
which  he  created  the  world,  and  toward  the  accomplish- 
ment of  which  he  has  ever  since  been  advancing.  This 
design  is  here  called  a  mystery,  that  is,  something  se- 
cret or  concealed  ;  because,  until  God  revealed  it,  it 

32* 


378 


THE  END   OF  TIME. 


was  entirely  hidden  from  mortals ;  and  because  it  is  still 
but  partially  revealed.  So  far  as  was  necessary  for  the 
information  of  mankind,  God  has  communicated  it  to  his 
servants  the  prophets,  and  the  other  inspired  writers  of 
the  sacred  volume,  that  through  their  instrumentality  it 
might  be  made  known  to  others.  From  them  we  learn, 
that  God's  great  object  in  creating  this  world  and  its  in- 
habitants was  to  gratify,  and  glorify  himself.  Their  lan- 
guage is,  The  Lord  hath  made  all  things  for  himself; 
Thou  Lord  hast  made  all  things ;  and  for  thy  pleasure 
they  are,  and  were  created  ;  and  they  represent  God,  as 
saying,  respecting  every  one  who  is  called  by  his  name, 
I  have  created  him  for  mine  own  glory.  Now  God  at 
once  glorifies  and  gratifies  himself,  when  he  displays  his 
perfections  in  his  works.  Some  of  his  perfections,  as, 
for  instance,  his  power,  wisdom  and  goodness,  he  dis- 
played in  the  creation  of  the  world ;  and  they,  as  well 
as  some  other  perfections  of  his  nature,  are  still  displayed 
in  its  providential  government.  But  the  principal  dis- 
play of  his  perfections  is  made  in  the  work  of  redemp- 
tion by  Jesus  Christ,  the  great  object  to  which  all  his 
works  of  creation  and  providence  ultimately  refer. 
Agreeably,  inspiration  informs  us,  that  for  Jesus  Christ 
all  things  were  created  ;  that  all  power  in  heaven  and 
earth  is  given  to  him  ;  that  to  him  all  judgment  is  com- 
mitted, that  he  is  made  head  over  all  things  to  his  church  ; 
and  that  to  him  there  is  given  dominion  and  glory  and  a 
kingdom  that  all  people,  nations,  and  languages,  should 
serve  him.  This  kingdom  here  mentioned  is  usually 
called  Christ's  mediatorial  kingdom  ;  and  over  this  king- 
dom he  is  to  reign  so  long  as  the  sun  and  moon  endure  ; 
that  js,  in  other  words,  till  time  shall  be  no  more.  When 
the  purposes  for  which  this  kingdom  was  given  to  Christ, 
and  set  up  in  the  world,  are  accomplished,  the  mystery  of 
God,  mentioned  in  our  text,  will  be  finished.  Now  the 
purposes,  for  which  this  kingdom  were  given  to  Christ, 
include  two  things.  The  first  is,  the  complete  salvation 
of  all  who  are  given  to  him  by  the  Father.  We  are 
informed  that  by  him,  as  the  Captain  of  their  salvation, 


THE  END  OF  TIME.  379 

God  is  bringing  many  sons  to  glory.  He  must  then 
reign,  his  mediatorial  kingdom  must  continue,  till  all  the 
chosen  sons  ol  God  are  brought  home  to  glory,  or  to 
mansions  prepared  for  them  in  heaven,  their  Father's 
house.  Hence  our  Saviour  declares  that,  before  the 
end  shall  come,  the  gospel  of  his  kingdom  must  be 
preached  to  all  nations.  The  reason  is  obvious.  The 
destined  subjects  of  this  kingdom,  the  chosen  sons  of 
God  and  heirs  of  salvation,  are  to  be  gathered,  we  read, 
out  of  every  kindred  and  nation  and  tongue  and  people. 
Of  course,  the  gospel,  by  which  they  are  to  be  called 
and  gathered  into  the  kingdom  of  Christ,  must  be  preach- 
ed to  all  nations  before  the  mystery  of  God  can  be  fin- 
ished, before  the  end  of  time  and  of  the  world  can 
arrive. 

The  second  thing,  included  in  these  purposes,  is  the 
complete  and  final  subjugation  of  all  Christ's  enemies. 
Agreeably,  an  apostle  informs  us,  that  he  must  reign  till 
all  enemies  are  put  under  his  feet ;  and  that,  when  this 
is  done,  when  he  shall  have  put  down  all  opposing  rule, 
and  power,  and  authority,  then  the  end  shall  come. 
This  event  synchronizes,  as  our  text  informs  us,  with 
the  sounding  of  the  trumpet  of  the  seventh  angel.  Ac- 
cordingly, we  read  in  a  succeeding  chapter  that  when 
the  seventh  angel  sounded,  great  voices  were  heard  in 
heaven,  saying,  the  kingdoms  of  this  world  are  become 
the  kingdoms  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour.  Thus  when  all 
Christ's  chosen  people  are  brought  home  to  glory,  and 
all  his  incorrigible  enemies  are  placed  under  his  feet,  the 
mystery  of  God  which  he  is  now  accomplishing  will  be 
finished,  and  then  will  the  end  come  and  there  will  be 
time  no  longer.  Time,  then,  may  be  considered  as  an 
island,  raised  out  of  the  ocean  of  eternity  by  the  Creator 
for  specific  purposes,  and  destined,  when  these  purpo- 
ses shall  be  accomplished,  to  sink  again  and  be  lost  in 
the  ocean  from  which  it  rose,  and  whose  waves  on  eve- 
ry side  bound  its  shores.  The  appointed  day  and  hour 
when  this  shall  take  place  is  known,  we  are  informed, 
neither  to  man  nor  to  angel,  but  to  God  only.    Jt  must 


380 


THE  END  OP  TIME. 


however  be  obvious  to  all,  who  can  discern  the  signs  of 
the  limes,  that  though  it  is  still  at  a  considerable  dis- 
tance, the  course  of  events  betokens  its  approach.  We 
have  already  remarked  that,  before  the  end  can  come, 
the  gospel  must  be  preached  to  all  nations.  And  how 
much  has  been  recently  done,  how  much  is  now  doing 
and  with  increasing  success,  to  accomplish  this  work ! 
God's  ancient  people,  the  Jews,  must  also  be  called  into 
the  fold  of  Christ,  and  with  them  the  fulness  of  the  Gen- 
tiles. And  present  appearances  indicate,  as  I  need  not 
inform  you,  that  these  events  are  not  very  far  distant. 

The  downfall  of  Papal  superstition,  of  Mohammedanism, 
and  of  the  Turkish  empire,  are  predicted  events,  which 
must  take  place  before  the  end  can  arrive.  And  that 
these  events  are  not  very  distant,  who  can  doubt  ?  The 
great  mystery  of  God  is  then  evidently  approaching  its 
consummation,  the  end  of  all  things  is  comparatively  at 
hand.  And  it  becomes  us  to  remember  that,  with  re- 
spect to  ourselves,  the  end  of  time  is  still  more  near. 
To  each  individual  the  hour  of  death  is  the  end  of  time. 
When  that  hour  arrives  to  any  one,  God  does  in  effect 
say  to  him,  there  shall  be  time  no  longer.  Let  us  now 
inquire, 

III.  What  will  be  the  attending  circumstances,  and 
consequences  of  this  event?  That  this  question  may  re- 
ceive a  proper  answer  it  must  be  considered  with  refer- 
ence to  ourselves,  our  race,  and  the  world  which  we  in- 
habit. 

1 .  With  respect  to  ourselves,  considered  as  individu- 
als, the  end  of  time,  or,  which  is  the  same  thing  to  us, 
the  end  of  our  lives  will  be  attended  by  circumstances, 
ana1  followed  by  consequences,  most  important  and  in- 
teresting. 

In  the  first  place,  we  shall  then  be  separated  at  once 
from  all  temporal  and  earthly  objects.  The  relations 
which  we  now  sustain  to  such  objects,  and  the  connex- 
ions which  now  bind  us  to  them,  will  be  entirely  and 
forever  dissolved.  The  world  will  no  longer  be  our 
habitation ;  this  country  will  no  longer  be  our  country ; 


THE  END  OF  TIME.  3&1 

our  houses,  lands,  and  other  temporal  possessions,  for 
which  we  have  labored,  will  no  longer  be  our  property. 
One  moment  after  our  death  thev  will  no  more  be  our's 
than  if  we  had  never  possessed  them.  The  richest 
and  the  poorest  of  us  will  then  be  reduced  in  this  re- 
spect to  a  perfect  equality.  The  places  which  now 
know  us  will  know  us  no  more  forever.  Of  all  our 
possessions  nothing  will  remain  to  us  but  the  necessity 
of  accounting  for  them  to  our  Judge,  and  the  conse- 
quences of  the  manner  in  which  we  have  employed 
them.  Then  too,  the  ties  which  now  bind  us  to  our 
fellow  creatures  will  be  dissolved.  We  may  now  have 
numerous  relations  and  connections  ;  we  may  surround 
ourselves  by  a  large  circle  of  admiring,  affectionate 
friends ;  but  death  will  separate  us  from  them  all,  and 
in  one  moment  after  its  arrival  we  shall  be  as  friendless 
as  the  beggar  who  dies  unknown  in  a  foreign  land. 
Our  surviving  friends  may  indeed  weep  over  our  re- 
mains ;  they  may  honor  them  with  sumptuous  funeral 
rites ;  they  may  say  much  in  our  praise,  and  give  us  a 
place  in  their  memories ;  but  we  shall  know  nothing  of 
all  this,  nor,  if  we  could,  would  it  afford  us  the  smallest 
gratification.  In  fine,  the  world  with  all  which  it  con- 
tains will  be  no  more  to  us  than  if  it  ceased  to  exist,  at 
the  very  moment  of  our  dissolution.  To  these  remarks 
there  may  be  one  exception.  If  we  are  real  Christians, 
if  we  have  become  united  to  Christ  as  our  Head,  and  to 
his  people  as  fellow  members,  we  have  formed  a  union 
which  death  itself  cannot  dissolve.  The  truly  pious 
will  meet  all  their  pious  friends  again,  meet  and  know 
them  as  friends,  and  be  separated  from  them"  no  more 
forever. 

In  the  second  place,  with  the  end  of  time  our  state  of 
probation,  and  our  day  of  grace  will  end.  We  shall  be 
removed  from  our  present  religious  privileges  and  means 
of  spiritual  improvement.  Not  another  petition  can  we 
ever  offer,  not  another  sentence  can  we  ever  read  in  the 
word  of  God  ;  not  another  offer  of  pardon  and  salvation 
can  we  ever  hear  ;  not  another  opportunity  of  warning, 


382 


THE  END  OF  TIME 


or  of  doing  good  to  our  fellow  mortals  can  we  enjoy. 
Prepared  or  unprepared  we  must  go.  Our  accounts, 
whether  ready  or  not  ready  for  the  inspection  of  our 
Judge,  must  be  sealed  up  to  the  judgment  of  the  great 
day ;  our  plans,  our  begun  enterprises,  our  works, 
whether  finished  or  unfinished,  must  all  be  left  just  as 
they  are.  No  part  of  the  work  which  God  has  required 
to  be  performed  in  time,  can  be  done  in  eternity ;  for 
there  is  in  this  sense  no  work  nor  device. 

In  the  third  place,  when  time  ends  eternity  will  begin. 
The  moment  in  which  we  leave  this  temporary  and  mu- 
table state,  we  shall  enter  a  state  which  is  eternal,  and, 
of  course,  unchangeable.  Sound  philosophy  unites 
with  revelation  in  declaring,  that  no  essential  change 
can  take  place  in  eternity.  The  moment  in  which  we 
leave  the  body  and  enter  the  future  werld,  eternity  will 
set  its  stamp  upon  us,  exclaiming,  Such  as  I  find  you, 
you  shall  continue  to  be  while  I  endure.  He  that  is 
righteous,  let  him  be  righteous  still,  and  he  that  is  sinful, 
let  him  be  sinful  still.  It  is  necessary,  however,  to  re- 
collect that,  when  the  good  man  leaves  the  body,  he 
leaves  all  his  remaining  sins  and  imperfections  behind, 
and  enters  eternity  a  pure  and  spotless  spirit ;  while  on 
the  other  hand,  the  wicked  leave  all  their  apparent  good- 
ness behind,  and  enter  eternity  with  the  character  and 
feelings  of  a  fiend  ;  for,  says  our  Saviour,  To  him  that 
hath,  more  shall  be  given,  and  he  shall  have  abundance ; 
but  from  him  that  hath  not,  shall  be  taken  away  even 
that  which  he  seemeth  to  have. 

Let  us  next  consider  the  circumstances  and  conse- 
quences which  will  attend  and  follow  the  end  of  time 
with  respect  to  the  human  race.  Considering  them 
separately,  as  individuals,  these  circumstances  and  con- 
sequences will  be  the  same  to  each  of  them,  as  have 
already  been  mentioned.  But  we  now  speak  of  them 
collectively,  including  ourselves,  of  course,  in  the  num- 
ber. 

And  first,  when  the  end  of  time  shall  arrive,  the  gen- 
eral resurrection  will  take  place.    Then  all  that  are  in 


/ 


THE  END  OF  TIME. 


383 


the  graves  shall  hear  the  voice  of  the  Son  of  man  and 
come  forth ;  they  that  have  done  good  to  the  resurrec- 
tion of  life,  and  they  that  have  done  evil  to  the  resur- 
rection of  damnation  ;  for  there  shall  be  a  resurrection 
not  of  the  just  only  but  also  of  the  unjust. 

In  the  second  place,  at  the  end  of  time,  the  day  of 
judgment,  *  the  great  day  for  which  all  other  days  were 
made,'  will  arrive.  The  Judge  will  be  seen  by  every 
human  eye,  coming  in  the  clouds  of  heaven  with  power 
and  great  glory ;  the  whole  human  family,  small  and 
great,  shall  be  placed  before  his  tribunal  to  be  judged 
and  rewarded  according  to  their  works,  the  righteous 
and  the  wicked  shall  be  separated  from  each  other  ;  the 
former  shall  be  called  to  inherit  the  kingdom  prepared 
for  them  from  the  foundation  of  the  world,  while  the 
latter  will  be  doomed  to  depart  accursed  into  everlasting 
fire  prepared  for  the  devil  and  his  angels.  These  sen- 
tences will  be  no  sooner  pronounced  than  executed. 
The  righteous  will  ascend  triumphantly  with  their  Sa- 
viour to  heaven,  there  to  live  and  reign  with  him  for- 
ever ;  while  the  wicked  will  be  thrust  down  to  their 
destined  prison,  between  which  and  the  abodes  of  the 
blessed  a  great  and  impassable  gulf  will  be  fixed. 

It  remains  only  to  consider  what  will  then  be  the  fate 
of  the  globe  which  we  inhabit.  It  has  already  been 
seen  that  the  end  of  time,  and  the  endof  this  world  must 
take  place  at  the  same  moment.  While  the  world  con- 
tinues time  must  continue,  and  when  the  world  ends, 
time  ends.  Agreeably,  we  are  informed  that,  when 
the  period  referred  to  shall  arrive,  the  earth  with  all  its 
works  shall  be  burnt  up  ;  for  then  the  design  for  which 
it  was  created  will  have  been  accomplished,  and  its 
longer  existence  would  be  useless.  Then  the  gold,  the 
silver,  the  jewels,  and  all  the  glittering  but  delusive  ob- 
.  jects,  for  which  so  many  thousands  have  bartered  their 
souls,  shall  be  destroyed  ;  then  the  monuments,  the  pal- 
aces, the  cities,  which  their  vain  builders  fondly  hoped 
would  render  their  names  imperishable,  shall  be  whelm- 
ed in  one  common  ruin  ;  then  the  exploits  and  achieve- 


384 


THE  END  OF  TIME 


ments,  the  civil  and  political  systems,  from  which  their 
authors  hoped  to  derive  a  deathless  fame,  shall  all  be 
blotted  out  and  forgotten  ;  then  those  literary  works  on 
which  the  impious  pride  of  man  had  inscribed  the  epithet, 
immortal,  will  be  consumed  like  a  worthless  scrap  of  pa- 
per. In  fine,  all  the  works  of  men  will  pass  away  with 
the  world  which  contained  them,  and  it  will  be  clearly 
seen,  that  they  '  built  too  low,  who  built  beneath  the 
skies  and  that  all  who  did  not  labor  for  the  glory  and 
honor  and  immortality  beyond  the  grave,  labored  in  vain, 
and  spent  their  strength  for  nought. 

It  will  have  already  occurred  to  you,  my  hearers,  that 
we  have  led  your  attention  to  the  subject  before  us  with 
special  reference  to  the  circumstances  in  which  we  meet. 
We  have  just  passed  the  line  which  separates  two  of 
those  divisions  of  time,  by  which  our  short  span  is  meas- 
ured out.  We  have  bid  an  eternal  farewell  to  one  year, 
and  entered  on  another,  which  to  some  of  us  must,  and 
to  any  of  us  may,  prove  the  last.  Yes,  to  some  of  us, 
the  end  of  time,  with  its  attending  circumstances  and 
consequences,  will  arrive  before  the  close  of  the  present 
year.  There  are  some  present  who  have  reason  to  say, 
My  breath  is  corrupt,  my  days  are  extinct,  the  graves 
are  ready  for  me.  Whether  I  shall  preach,  whether  you 
will  hear,  another  new-year's  sermon,  God  only  knows. 
During  the  past  year,  twenty-eight  individuals  of  this  so- 
ciety, nineteen  adults  and  nine  children,  have  passed  the 
bounds  of  time,  and  entered  on  eternity.  This  number 
does  not  include  those  who  have  died  while  absent  from 
us.  To  an  equal  number  the  end  of  time  will  probably 
arrive  during  the  present  year.  As  no  one  of  us  can 
say  that  he  shall  not  be  among  this  number,  let  us  pause, 
and,  with  the  end  of  time  full  in  our  view,  indulge  those 
reflections  which  it  is  suited  to  excite,  and  for  which  the 
occasion  calls. 

1.  In  view  of  this  subject,  how  insignificant,  how  un- 
worthy of  an  immortal  being,  do  all  merely  temporal  and 
earthly  pursuits  appear  !  Look  at  these  pursuits,  ye 
who  are  engaged  in  them,  and  then  at  the  scene  before 


THE  END  OF  TIME 


385 


us,  and  methinks  you  can  scarcely  fail  to  be  convinced 
of  the  irrationality  of  your  conduct.    You  have  spent 
many  years  in  these  pursuits,  and  what  is  all  that  you 
have  really  acquired  worth  ?    What  will  all  the  connec- 
tions you  have  formed,  and  all  the  friends  you  have  ac- 
quired, be  worth  to  you,  when  the  hour  of  separation, 
which  may  come  tomorrow,  shall  arrive  ?    What  will 
all  the  applause  you  ever  have  obtained,  or  ever  can 
obtain,  be  worth  to  you,  when  your  ear,  closed  in  death, 
can  no  longer  hear  it  ?    What  will  a  portion  in  this 
world  be  worth  to  you,  when  the  world  itself,  with  all 
which  it  contains,  is  burnt  up  ?    What  is  it  worth  to 
those  who  died  the  last  year  ?    The  answer  to  all  these 
questions  is  short, — just  nothing.    You  have  spent 
many  years  then,  the  most  valuable  years  of  life,  years 
which  if  spent  aright  would  have  secured  eternal  salva- 
tion, in  acquiring  nothing.    Nor  is  this  all.    By  thus 
laboring  for  temporal,  when  you  ought  to  have  been 
pursuing  spiritual  and  eternal  objects,  you  have  ineurred 
the  just  displeasure  of  your  Creator ;  you  have  been 
treasuring  up  wrath  against  the  day  of  wrath.    Yes,  sin- 
ner, the  only  treasure  you  have  accumulated  is  a  treas- 
ure of  wrath.    Of  all  that  you  have  acquired  this,  this 
alone,  can  you  carry  with  you  when  you  leave  this 
world.    Can  you  then  deny  that  your  conduct  has  been 
irrational  in  the  extreme  ?    If  you  do  deny  it  let  me 
ask,  whether  you  really  believe  that  your  souls  are  im- 
mortal ?    If  so  you  believe  that  they  will  exist  after 
death,  that  they  will  be  in  existence  a  hundred  or  a 
thousand  years  hence,  and  that,  when  that  period  ar- 
rives, happiness  will  appear  to  them  as  desirable,  and 
misery  as  dreadful,  as  it  does  now.    Have  you  then 
secured  any  thing  which  will  promote  your  happiness  a 
hundred  years  after  death  ?    Have  not  all  your  cares 
and  labors  had  respect  to  the  present  life  ?    And  if  this 
be  not  folly  what  is  ?    Surely  the  folly  of  him  who 
wastes  his  childhood  and  youth  in  idleness  and  play,  is 
wisjdom  itself  compared  with  the  folly  of  him  who  lays 


33 


386 


THE  END  OF  TIME. 


up  his  treasure  on  earth,  and  makes  no  provision  but 
lor  the  present  life. 

That  you  may  be  still  farther  convinced  of  this,  con- 
trast your  conduct  with  that  of  the  real  Christian,  who 
has  diligently  sought  in  God's  appointed  way  for  glory 
and  honor  and  immortality  beyond  the  grave.  He  has 
laid  up  something  for  eternity,  something  which  will 
render  him  completely  happy  when  time  shall  be  no 
more.  And  the  portion  which  he  has  secured  is  not 
only  valuable  but  safe  ;  for  it  is  laid  up  in  heaven.  This 
world,  with  all  which  it  contains,  may  be  burnt  up,  with- 
out diminishing  his  treasure  in  the  smallest  degree. 
Death  may  come,  the  end  of  time  may  come,  and  his 
happiness,  instead  of  being  diminished  will  be  immeas- 
urably increased  ;  for  at  death  he  goes  to  his  portion ; 
while  you,  at  death,  will  go  from  yours  forever.  Is  not 
his  conduct  then  wisdom  and  yours  folly  ?  Would  it 
not  be  folly  to  invest  all  your  property  in  a  bank  which 
you  knew  would  fail,  or  embark  it  without  insurance 
onboard  a  vessel  which  you  knew  would  founder? 
If  any  of  you  are  convinced  that  it  would  be,  remember 
that  it  is  not  yet  too  late  to  be  wise.  The  end  of  time 
is  not  yet  arrived  to  you  ;  and  until  that  arrives,  you 
will  enjoy  the  day  of  grace  and  the  means  of  salvation. 
O,  then,  improve  them  while  you  may.  Whatever  you 
do  must  ba  done  quickly,  for  your  time  is  short,  and 
there  is  no  work  nor  device  nor  knowledge  in  the  gfave 
whither  you  are  hastening. 

2,  In  full  view  of  the  end  of  time  let  me  ask,  are  you 
all,  my  hearers,  prepared  for  it  ?  Are  you  prepared  to 
part  with  your  friends,  to  leave  all  your  temporal  pos- 
sessions, to  be  removed  from  the  means  of  grace,  to 
enter  the  world  of  spirits,  the  eternal  world,  to  have  the 
stamp  of  eternity  placed  upon  your  characters?  In  a 
word,  are  you  prepared  to  meet  your  God,  to  stand  be- 
fore him  in  judgment  and  see  the  earth  sink  from  under 
your  feet  in  the  flames  of  one  wide-wasting  a-ll-devouring 
conflagration  ?    If  you  are  not  prepared,  nay,  if  you 


THE  END  OP  TIME. 


3S7 


have  the  smallest  doubt  of  your  own  preparedness,  give 
yourselves  no  rest  till  all  scriptural  cause  of  doubt  is 
removed. 

3.  Proper  views  of  the  subject  before  us  will  be  use-' 
ful  to  us,  my  Christian  friends,  in  approaching  the  table 
of  our  Lord.  In  approaching  that  table,  we  shall  act  a 
part  in  the  great  work  which  God  is  carrying  on,  and 
commemorate  an  event  which  constitutes  its  corner 
stone.  We  shall  scarcely  assert  more  than  the  Scrip- 
tures will  warrant,  if  we  assert,  that  the  world  was  crea- 
ted to  serve  as  a  spot  on  which  the  cross  of  Christ  might 
be  erected.  In  approaching  this  table  we  shall  also  ob- 
serve an  institution  which  forms  a  connecting  chain  be- 
tween the  first  and  second  coming  of  Christ,  or  between 
his  crucifixionxand  the  end  of  the  world.  The  return 
of  each  communion  season  adds  a  new  link  to  this  chain ; 
and  though  we  shall  all  be  laid  in  the  grave  long  before 
its  completion,  yet  the  work  will  be  carried  on  by  suc- 
cessive generations  of  believers,  and  the  Lord's  supper 
will  be  observed  for  the  last  time  on  earth  but  a  few 
days  before  his  second  coming.  But  for  an  eternity  of 
ages  after  that  event  the  blessings,  which  are  here  sym- 
bolically represented  and  received  by  faith,  will  continue 
to  be  enjoyed  by  all  who  ever  worthily  partook  of  the 
Lord's  supper.  My  brethren,  are  you  prepared  to 
come  and  observe  in  a  proper  mannrer  an  institution  so 
sacred,  so  interesting,  so  intimately  connected  with  the 
most  important  event  of  time,  and  taking  hold  in  its 
consequences  of  the  remotest  ages  of  eternity  ?  Can 
you  come  and  by  faith  look  back  along  this  chain  to  the 
cross  of  Christ,  as  the  foundation  of  your  hopes,  and 
then  look  forward  to  the  end  of  time  and  see  him  com- 
ing in  the  clouds  of  heaven  to  fulfil,  and  more  than  ful- 
fil all  your  hopes  ?  Surely  if  you  can  do  this,  you  will 
be  ready  to  say  with  Paul,  I  am  crucified  to  the  world 
and  the  world  to  me.  What  have  I  any  more  to  do 
with  its  idols  or  its  perishing  objects  f  What  indeed 
have  I  to  do  with  it,  or  in  it,  but  to  perform  the  appoint- 


388 


THE  END  OF  TIME. 


ed  duties  of  my  station  and  finish  the  work  for  which  I 
was  placed  here  ?  Too  long  have  I  run  in  the  race 
with  men  of  this  world,  who  have  their  portion  in  this 
life.  Too  long  have  I  been  a  competitor  for  the  worth- 
less prize  which  they  are  pursuing.  But  I  will  be  so 
no  longer.  I  forsake  the  race,  I  stand  aside,  and  say, 
Let  others  pursue  and  obtain,  if  they  can,  the  pleasures, 
the  applause,  the  possessions,  which  this  world  offers  to 
her  votaries.  I  resign  them  all.  I  have  another  race 
to  run,  I  have  nobler  objects  to  pursue  ;  and  to  this  race, 
to  these  objects,  to  the  service  of  my  Saviour,  and  to 
the  pleasures,  the  honors,  the  possessions  of  eternity,  I 
now,  in  the  presence  of  God,  consecrate  my  future  life 
and  all  my  powers.  My  brethren,  can  you  hesitate  to 
adopt  and  carry  into  effect  this  language  ?  Do  not 
those  of  our  number,  who  died  the  past  year,  now  wish 
that  they  had  adopted  it  ?  Could  you  be  assured  that 
to  you  the  end  of  time  will  arrive  before  the  conclusion 
of  the  present  year,  would  you  not  aim  to  adopt  it  ? 
Why  not  then  adopt  it  now  ?  He  whom  you  call  your 
Master  requires  you  to  be  always  ready,  and  waiting  for 
his  coming,  because  you  know  not  when  he  will  come, 
and  because  he  will  come  at  an  hour  when  he  is  not 
expected.  Is  he  then  really  your  Master,  or  is  he  not  ? 
You  can  prove  that  he  is,  only  by  obeying  him.  Before 
you  approach  his  table,  then,  and  seal  your  covenant 
engagements  afresh,  inquire  whether  it  is  your  present 
fixed  purpose,  to  obey  this  command.  Inquire  whether 
you  are  proving  that  you  truly  repent  of  the  sins  of  the 
past  year,  by  sincerely  resolving  that  you  will  endeavor 
not  to  bring  them  into  the  year  on  which  you  have  en- 
tered. 

To  conclude.  On  the  last  new  year's  day,  manfr, 
who  are  now  gone  from  us,  were  in  your  situation. 
They  sat  in  your  seats ;  they  heard  such  truths  as  you 
are  now  hearing  ;  they  saw  the  Lord's  table  spread  be- 
fore them.  And  now,  after  the  lapse  of  one  year  only, 
one  short  year  they  are  in  eternity  ;  some  of  them,  we 


THE  END  OF  TIME. 


389 


hope,  in  heaven  ;  others,  we  fear,  not.  Such  a  change, 
such  a  mighty  change  can  one  year  make.  And  as 
one  year  since  they  were  in  your  situation,  so  before 
this  year  closes  some  of  you  will  probably  be  in  theirs. 
Yes,  some  of  you  have  heard  the  last  new-year's  sermon. 


33* 


SERMON  XXVIII. 

The  Feelings  and  Employment  of  Saints  in  Heaven. 


REVELATION  IV.  10. 

AND  CAST  THEIR  CROWNS  BEFORE  THE  THRONE. 

Saint  John,  in  this  chapter,  describes  a  vision,  with 
which  he  was  favored,  of  the  heavenly  world.  After 
presenting  to  our  view  the  throne  of  God,  in  the  midst 
of  which  Jesus  Christ  appeared,  as  a  lamb  that  had  been 
slain,  he  proceeds  to  inform  us  by  whom  this  throne  was 
surrounded.  Among  those  who  surrounded  it,  he  saw 
four  and  twenty  elders,  clothed  in  white  robes,  and  having 
on  their  heads  crowns  of  gold.  These  elders  represent- 
ed the  whole  church  of  Christ  in  its  perfect  and  glorified 
state,  as  it  will  appear  in  heaven,  after  the  consummation 
of  all  things.  Their  white  robes  were  an  emblem  of  the 
spotless  purity  with  which  it  will  then  be  adorned  ;  while 
their  golden  crowns  represent  the  regal  dignity,  the  glory, 
honor  and  immortality,  with  which,  agreeably  to  the  of- 
ten repeated  promise  of  our  Saviour,  all  his  real  disciples 
shall  be  invested  in  heaven.  In  our  text  the  apostle  in- 
forms us  what  use  they  made  of  these  crowns.  They 
cast  them  before  the  throne,  or  at  the  foot  of  the  throne* 
on  which  sat  the  Father  and  the  Son.  This  action,  like 
every  other  part  of  the  apostle's  vision,  was  symbolical, 
or  figurative.  It  is  not  however  on  that  account  less  full 
of  instruction.  It  illustrates,  in  a  very  clear  and  striking 
manner,  some  of  the  principal  traits  in  that  character, 
which  all  the  redeemed  will  possess  in  heaven.    Let  us, 


THE  FEELINGS  OF  SAINTS  IN  HEAVEN.  391 

then,  endeavor  to  ascertain  Us  import,  together  with  the 
feelings  which  prompted  it,  and  of  which  it  was  an  ex- 
pression. 

In  attempting  this,  it  is  necessary  to  recollect,  that  all 
the  rewards,  which  await  the  righteous  in  heaven,  are 
often  summed  up  in  the  comprehensive  expression  of  a 
kingdom.  I  appoint  unto  you  a  kingdom,  said  our  Sa- 
viour to  his  disciples,  as  my  Father  hath  appointed  un- 
to me.  To  him  that  overcometh  will  I  grant  to  sit  with 
me  in  my  throne,  even  as  I  overcame,  and  am  seated 
with  my  Father  on  his  throne.  In  allusion  to  these  and 
other  similar  promises,  St.  Paul  says,  there  is  laid  up  for 
me  a  crown  of  righteousness,  which  the  Lord,  the  right- 
eous Judge,  shall  give  me  at  that  day ;  and  not  to  me 
only,  but  to  all  them  also  which  love  his  appearing.  And 
in  the  same  spirit  all  the  redeemed  in  heaven  are  repre- 
sented as  saying  to  Christ,  Thou  hast  made  us  kings  un- 
to God,  and  we  shall  reign  forever  and  ever.  As  the 
rewards  of  heaven  are  thus  called  a  kingdom,  and  as  a 
crown  is  the  distinguishing  badge  or  ornament  of  royalty 
which  is  worn  by  kings  alone,  it  follows  that,  as  has  al- 
ready been  intimated,  the  crown  mentioned  in  the  text 
represented  every  thing  which  the  righteous  had  receiv- 
ed as  a  reward.  Casting  these  crowns  at  the  foot  of 
the  throne,  was,  therefore,  the  same  as  casting  their 
kingdom,  with  all  its  dignity  glory  and  honor  at  the  feet 
of  God  and  the  Lamb.  Hence  it  is  easy  to  perceive 
the  import  of  this  action  and  the  feelings  which  promp- 
ted it.  In  the  first  place,  it  was  an  acknowledgment  of 
what  God  is,  and  of  what  he  deserves  from  his  creatures. 
The  Scriptures  inform  us  that  he  is  one,  of  whom,  and 
through  whom,  and  to  whom  are  all  things.  All  things 
are  of  him,  as  their  Creator,  and  First  Cause  ;  all  things 
are  through  him,  as  they  are  preserved,  sustained  and 
effected  by  his  constant  agency  ;  and  all  things  are  to 
him,  as  they  are  designed  for  his  pleasure  and  glory. 
Of  all  these  truths  the  action,  which  we  are  contempla- 
ting, was  an  acknowledgment.  They  who  performed  it, 
declared  by  its  performance,  a  full,  heart-felt  conviction, 


392  THE  FEELINGS  AND  EMPLOYMENT 


that  all  which  they  were,  and  all  which  they  possessed, 
was  from  God,  and  that  therefore  all  ought  to  be  ren- 
dered to  hirn  alone  ;  that  all  the  streams  which  issued 
from  this  fountain  ought  to  flow  back  to  it  again.  Were 
there  any  doubt  that  such  was  in  fact  the  import  of  this 
action,  the  language  with  which  it  was  accompanied  must 
remove  it.    While  they  cast  their  crowns  before  the 
throne,  they  exclaimed,  Thou  art  worthy,  O  Lord,  to 
receive  glory,  and  honor  and  power  ;  for  thou  hast  made 
all  things,  and  for  thy  pleasure  they  are,  and  were  crea- 
ted.   And  as  they  uttered  this  ascription,  they  cast 
themselves  also  before  the  throne  ;  thus  in  effect  saying, 
From  thee,  O  Lord,  we  derived  all  that  we  are,  and  all 
that  we  possess  ;  and  to  thee,  therefore,  we  bring  it  back. 
To  thee  belongs  all  glory,  and  honor,  and  power,  and  to 
thee  therefore  we  ascribe  it.    And  while  this  action  ex- 
pressed a  general  acknowledgment,  that  all  glory  is  due 
to  God,  it  implied  a  more  particular  acknowledgment, 
that  to  him  all  the  glory  of  their  salvation  belonged.  It 
was  as  if  they  had  said,  From  thee,  O  Lord,  we  have 
received  these  crowns ;  but  we  are  wholly  unworthy  of 
them ;  to  thee  alone  they  belong  ;  for  by  thy  sovereign 
grace  alone  were  we  prepared  for  them  ;  by  thy  grace 
alone  were  we  enabled  to  perform  the -good  work  which 
thou  hast  been  pleased  thus  to  reward  ;  and  by  thy 
grace  were  we  brought  to  the  enjoyment  of  these  re- 
wards.   Grace  prompted  the  plan  of  oar  salvation,  and 
grace  carried  it  into  execution.    Grace  prepared  for  us 
a  Saviour,  and  chose  us  in  him  before  the  foundation  of 
the  world  ;  grace  inclined  us  to  choose,  and  to  follow 
the  Saviour  thus  provided  ;  and  grace  has  finally  crown- 
ed us  with  eternal  glories.    To  thy  grace  then,  O  our 
God,  thy  free,  rich,  sovereign,  distinguishing  grace  be- 
longs all  the  glory  of  our  salvation,  and  to  that  grace  we 
ascribe  it.    In  all  that  we  offer,  or  can  offer,  we  do  but 
present  thee  with  that  which  is  thine  own.    Not  one 
gem  in  these  celestial  crowns  belongs  to  us  ;  not  one  will 
we  retain.    Thou  art  all  in  all,  and  we  are  nothing; 
nothing  but  shadows  painted  by  thy  beams,  nothing  but' 


OF  SAINTS  IN  HEAVEN 


893 


sinful  dust  and  ashes,  deserving  of  everlasting  destruc- 
tion, whom  thou  hast  rescued,  pardoned,  sanctified,  pre- 
served, and  raised  to  glory. 

Having  thus  considered  the  import  of  this  action,  let 
us  attend,  in  the  second  place,  to  the  feelings  which 
prompted  it,  and  of  which  it  was  an  expression. 

In  the  first  place,  it  was  prompted  by,  it  was  an  ex- 
pression of,  perfect  humility.  This  quality  has  never 
existed  on  earth  in  perfection,  except  while  our  Saviour 
resided  here,  since  the  fall.  Ever  since  the  fall,  man 
has  been  a  proud  creature.  Indeed  the  exercise  of 
pride  was  one  essential  part  of  his  fall.  Not  content 
with  the  honor  and  immortality  with  which  he  was  crown- 
ed, he  proudly  desired  to  become  as  a  god,  knowing 
good  and  evil.  The  same  proud  disposition  has  ever 
since  constituted  a  principal  feature  in  the  character  of 
fallen  man.  It  essentially  consists  in  a  disposition  to 
exalt  and  arrogate  glory  to  ourselves,  and  thus  withhold 
if  from  him  to  whom  alone  it  is  due.  Hence  the  con- 
stant struggle  which  has  ever  existed  among  fallen  men 
for  preeminence.  Hence  the  love  and  desire  for  the 
chief  room,  and  the  uppermost  seats.  Hence,  too,  the 
little  success  which  attends  the  preaching  of  the  gospel. 
Pride  forms  the  principal  obstacle  which  exists  in  the 
heart  of  man  to  the  reception  of  its  humbling  doctrines. 
And  even  after  the  pride  of  the  heart  is  so  far  subdued 
as  to  admit  these  doctrines,  it  still  maintains  its  exist- 
ence, and  occasions  the  Christian  more  trouble  than  all 
other  sinful  propensities  united.  It  is  the  very  last  of 
his  internal  enemies,  over  which  he  obtains  any  victory  ; 
and  many,  many  victories  does  it  previously  obtain  over 
him.  In  his  breast  it  usually  assumes  the  form  of  spiri- 
tual pride,  the  most  absurd  and  detestable  form  which  it 
can  assume.  An  exemplification  of  it  in  this  form  we 
see  in  our  Saviour's  first  disciples.  It  prompted  their 
frequent  disputes  respecting  the  question,  who  should  be 
the  greatest  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  It  prompted 
the  request  made  by  two  of  them,  that  they  might  sit, 
one  on  the  right  hand,  and  the  other  on  the  left  of  out 


394  THE  FEELINGS  AND  EMPLOYMENT 


Saviour,  in  his  kingdom.    In  a  thousand  similar  ways 
it  has  operated  in  the  hearts  of  Christians  ever  since. 
It  excites  in  them  a  desire  to  become  eminent  Christians, 
to  be  distinguished  for  gifts,  graces,  attainments,  and 
usefulness ;  not  that  God  may  be  glorified  and  Christ 
honored,  but  that  they  may  be  admired  and  honored 
themselves,  and  that  they  may  possess  something  on 
which  they  can  look  with  self-complacency.    It  pre- 
vents them  from  carrying  back  to  God  all  which  they 
receive  from  him,  and  from  ascribing  to  him  all  the  glory 
which  he  deserves,  and  leads  them  sacrilegiously  to  ap- 
propriate at  least  some  part  of  it  to  themselves.  Even 
when  it  does  not  prevent  them  from  feeling  and  acknow- 
ledging that  they  are  weak,  foolish,  ignorant,  sinful,  and 
guilty,  it  makes  them  unwilling  that  their  brethren  should 
think  them  to  be  so,  and  prompts  a  desire  to  be  admired 
and  applauded  by  other  Christians.    If  their  Saviour  is 
graciously  pleased  to  grant  them  any  peculiar,  though 
yet  wholly  undeserved  manifestations  of  his  love ;  to 
favor  them  with  any  unusual  consolation,  to  furnish  them 
with  more  than  ordinary  gifts  for  the  benefit  of  the 
church,  or  to  crown  their  endeavors  to  do  good  with 
success,  immediately  this  busy  sin  begias  to  operate  ; 
self-complacent  thoughts  and  feelings  begin  to  rise ;  and 
a  vain,  wicked  elation  of  mind  ensues,  which  obliges 
their  generous  benefactor  either  to  withdraw  his  gifts, 
or  embitter  them  with  some  attendant  infirmity,  or  af- 
fliction.   Thus  even  St.  Paul  himself,  after  being  fa- 
,  vored  with  a  rapture  into  the  third  heaven,  was  obliged 
to  have  a  thorn  in  the  flesh,  a  messenger  of  Satan  to  buf- 
fet him,  lest  he  should  be  exalted  above  measure.  In 
Christians  of  smaller  attainments,  favors  incomparably 
less  than  he  enjoyed,  are  sufficient  to  exalt  them  above 
measure,  and  to  make  a  thorn  in  the  flesh  necessary  for 
their  humiliation.    The  exercise  of  more  than  ordinary 
generosity,  or  a  little  more  than  usual  fluency  and  fer- 
vency in  prayer,  or  one  instance  of  conversion  effected 
by  their  instrumentality,  may  produce  such  consequen- 
ces.   Nay,  they  may  be  proud  even  of  their  humility, 


OF  SAINTS  IN  HEAVEN. 


395 


proud  of  the  manner  in  which  they  confess,  and  of  the 
earnestness  with  which  they  pray  against,  the  operations 
of  pride.    To  this  fruitful  accursed  source  of  mischief 
must  be  also  ascribed,  all  the  discontent  and  mournings 
of  which  they  are  guilty  ;  for  a  man  free  from  pride 
would  be  always  contented  and  thankful ;  all  the  cen- 
sorious remarks  which  they  make  respecting  others ; 
for  a  perfectly  humble  man  can  never  be  censorious  ; — 
all  the  dissentions  which  prevail  among  Christians ;  for 
only  by  pride  cometh  contention.    This  evil  farther 
leads  them  to  overrate  their  own  attainments,  conceals 
from  them  their  deficiencies,  and  thus  in  various  ways 
retards  their  progress.    Nothing  is  a  greater  obstacle  to 
prayer  than  pride  ;  nothing  more  effectually  prevents  us 
from  receiving  answers  to  prayer  ;  for  why  should  God 
bestow  further  favor  upon  one  who  is  proud  of  those 
which  he  has  already  received  ?     Should  any  of 
you.  my  hearers,   employ  a  servant  to  carry  your 
alms  to  the  poor,  and  should  you  find  that  he  appro- 
priated part  of  the  money  designed  for  this  purpose 
to  his  own  use,  or  that  he  gave  it  to  your  pensioners  in 
his  own  name,  and  thus  diverted  their  gratitude  from 
you  to  himself,  would  you  not  cease  to  employ  him  ? 
And  can  we  then  wonder  that  God  should  withhold  his 
gifts  from  those  who  make  use  of  them  to  nourish  pride, 
and  who  take  part  of  the  glory  of  them,  to  themselves  ? 
Indeed  this  is  the  grand  reason  why  we  receive  so  little. 
God  is  abundantly  able  to  give,  willing  to  give,  disposed 
to  give  his  people  far  more  than  they  receive ;  but  he 
is  obliged  to  withhold  from  them  his  gifts,  to  hide  his 
face  from  them,  to  turn  his  smiles  into  frowns,  lest  their 
pride  should  be  increased.    Indeed  the  Christian  who 
could  learn  to  receive,  use,  and  enjoy  the  gifts  of  God, 
and  the  consolations  of  his  Spirit,  without  being  elated 
by  them,  would  have  learned  the  grand  secret  of  obtain- 
ing great  means  of  grace,  of  becoming  eminent,  useful, 
and  happy.    In  learning  this  lesson,  however,  most 
Christians  make  but  very  slow  progress.    They  see  and 
fcnow  that  they  ought  to  be  humble,  that  pride  is  most 


396  THE  FEELINGS  AND  EMPLOYMENT 

unreasonable,  hateful,  abominable  and  hurtful ;  yet  still 
it  cleaves  to  them  ;  and  in  some  degree  it  will  cleave  to 
them,  so  long  as  they  remain  in  this  imperfect  state  of  ex- 
istence. But  they  will  leave  it  all  behind  forever,  when 
they  leave  the  body.  No  particle  of  it  will  ascend  with 
them  to  heaven.  There  they  will  have  no  wish  for  the 
chief  places,  no  desire  for  admiration  and  applause. 
There  they  will  keep  back  no  part  of  the  glory  which 
belongs  to  their  Creator  and  Redeemer ;  but,  like  their 
representatives  seen  by  John  in  the  vision  before  us,  will 
cast  their  crowns  and  themselves,  without  the  least  re- 
serve, before  the  throne  of  God  and  the  Lamb.  Noth- 
ing within  them  will  say,  I  was  saved  because  I  deserv- 
ed salvation.  Nothing  in  them  will  say,  we  were  in  part 
the  authors  of  our  own  salvation  ;  but  the  language  of 
every  heart  will  be,  My  salvation  was  wholly  of  the 
Lord.  Jesus  is  the  author,  the  finisher,  and  re  warder  of 
my  faith. 

In  the  second  place,  the  action  which  we  are  contem- 
plating expressed,  and  was  prompted  by  perfect  love  to 
God  and  the  Redeemer.  Not  the  understandings  only, 
but  the  hearts  of  those  who  performed  it,  said,  God  is 
infinitely  lovely,  infinitely  worthy  of  all  the  affection 
which  we  can  feel,  of  every  proof  of  affection  which  we 
can  offer.  Now  I  need  not  inform  you  that  every  man 
will  choose  to  crown  or  adorn  that  object  which  he  best 
loves.  Naturally  the  object  which  every  man  best  loves 
is  himself.  Hence  he  wishes  to  crown,  adorn,  exalt 
himself.  Thus  pride  springs  from  selfishness,  and  the 
one  is  always  in  .exact  proportion  to  the  other.  But  ev- 
ery Christian  begins,  when  he  becomes  such,  to  love 
God  supremely.  Of  course  he  begins  to  wish  that  God 
may  be  glorified  and  exalted.  But  in  the  present  life, 
this  love,  and,  of  course,  its  effects  are  not  perfect.  As 
there  is  some  pride,  so  there  is  some  selfishness,  in  the 
heart  of  the  most  holy  Christian  on  earth.  But  in  heav- 
en there  is  none.  There  the  redeemed  love  God  per- 
fectly, love  him  with  all  their  heart,  and  soul,  and  mind 
and  strength  ;  love  him  far  better  than  they  love  thenw 


OF  SAINTS  IN  HEAVEN. 


397 


selves.  Of  course  their  whole  desire  is  to  glorify  and 
exalt  him.  They  are  far  better  pleased  to  see  their 
crowns  at  his  feet,  than  upon  their  own  heads.  At  his 
feet  therefore  they  cast  them,  and  in  performing  this  ac- 
tion express,  in  the  most  striking  manner,  perfect  love. 

In  the  third  place,  this  action  was  prompted  by,  and 
expressed  perfect  gratitude.  The  natural  effect  of  grat- 
itude for  favors  received,  is  a  wish  to  make  some  return 
for  those  favors  ;  and  to  make  such  return  is,  of  course, 
its  natural  expression.  The  more  numerous  and  valua- 
ble these  returns  are,  the  greater  is  the  gratitude 
which  prompted  them  presumed  to  be.  Look  then  at 
the  return  which  these  redeemed  spirits  make  to  God 
for  his  goodness.  They  bring  themselves,  their  crowns, 
all  that  they  are,  and  all  that  they  have,  and  cast  it  at 
his  feet.  The  language  of  this  action  is,  Lord,  we  would 
fain  make  some  return  for  all  thy  goodness  to  us.  But 
we  have  nothing  except  what  thou  hast  given  us.  All 
this  we  bring  to  ihee,  and  consecrate  it  without  reserve 
to  thy  service.  Did  we  possess  more,  we  would  con- 
secrate it  to  the  same  use.  It  is  enough  for  us  to  see 
and  promote  thy  glory,  to  be  instruments  of  thy  pleasure, 
and  to  have  thee  accept  our  worthless  services,  our  in- 
adequate returns. 

Lastly  ;  this  action  expresses  the  most  profound  rev- 
erence. Had  they  felt  nothing  more,  than  love  and  grat- 
itude, they  might  have  attempted  to  place  their  crowns 
on  the  head,  or  at  least  in  the  hands  of  him  who  was  the 
object  of  these  affections.  But  they  regarded  him  also 
with  the  most  awful  veneration.  This  they  expressed 
by  casting  their  crowns  at  his  feet.  It  was  as  if  they 
had  said,  that  which  is  the  brightest  ornament  of  our 
beads,  is  barely  worthy  to  lie  at  the  feet  of  Jehovah.  At 
his  feet  we  ourselves  are  scarcely  worthy  to  be.  But 
since  he  permits  us  to  be  there,  we  esteem  that  place  as 
the  highest  honor  we  can  enjoy,  and  prefer  it  to  all  earth- 
ly thrones,  prefer  it  even  to  a  throne  in  heaven  without 
our  God. 


34 


398 


THE  FEELINGS  AND  EMPLOYMENT 


REFLECTIONS. 

1.  From  this  subject  it  may  easily  be  made  to  appear 
that  the  views  and  feelings  of  Christians  in  this  world 
resemble  those  of  the  redeemed  in  heaven,  and  differ 
from  them,  not  at  all  in  kind,  but  only  in  degree.  They 
resemble  them  just  as  the  opening  blossoms  and  imma- 
ture fruit  of  a  tree,  resemble  the  perfectly  ripe  fruit  of 
the  same  tree.    Every  Christian,  who  has  listened  to 
these  remarks,  can  scarcely  fail  to  have  felt  a  conscious- 
ness, that  he  possesses  in  some  degree  the  views  and 
feelings  which  have  now  been  described.    He  feels 
something  of  the  same  love  to  his  God  and  Redeemer, 
of  the  same  gratitude  for  his  goodness,  the  same  rever- 
ence for  his  character,  which  are  manifested  by  his 
brethren  made  perfect  in  heaven  ;  and  he  is  so  far  pos- 
sessed of  humility,  as  to  be  sensible  and  ashamed  of  his 
pride,  and  to  hate  and  pray  and  struggle  against  it.  He 
also  expresses  these  feelings  in  a  similar  manner.  He 
ascribes,  he  loves  to  ascribe  glory  to  God,  and  the  Lamb, 
and  he  wishes  to  ascribe  it  to  them  more  perfectly. 
He  wishes  to  cast  himself,  and  all  that  he  possesses, 
without  reserve,  at  their  feet ;  and  he  is  ashamed,  he 
feels  self-abhorrence,  he  repents,  when  he  finds  him- 
self withholding  any  part  of  their  due.    Never  is  he  so 
happy,  as  in  those  favored  moments  when  he  can  make 
the  nearest  approaches  to  the  temper,  and  engage  most 
earnestly  in  the  employments  of  the  heavenly  world. 
How  plain,  how  undeniably  evident  then  is  it,  that  he 
is  preparing  for  that  world  and  destined  to  enjoy  it. 
He  is  here  in  the  school  of  Christ,  going  through  a 
course  of  education  to  fit  him  for  it.    This  course  will 
be  completed,  and  as  soon  as  it  is  completed  he  shall 
be  raised  to  join  those  who  have  passed  before  him 
through  the  Christian  seminary,  and  whose  education 
for  heaven  is  finished.  Hence, 

2.  Every  one  present  may  easily  learn  whether  he 
belongs  to  this  happy,  highly  favored  number.  In  or- 
der to  ascertain  this,  you  have  only  to  inquire  whether 
you  are  conscious  of  possessing  views  and  feelings  simi- 


OF  SAINTS  IN  HEAVEN. 


899 


Jar  to  those  which  have  now  been  described  ;  whether 
you  possess  a  kindred  spirit  with  those  celestial  beings 
who  are  now  casting  themselves  and  their  crowns  before 
the  throne  of  the  Eternal ;  whether,  while  you  contem- 
plate them,  your  hearts  say,  Were  I  among  them,  and 
possessed  of  a  crown  like  them,  I  well  know  what  use 
I  should  choose  and  rejoice  to  make  of  it,  and  especially 
whether  you  prove  the  sincerity,  the  reality  of  these 
feelings  by  aiming  to  glorify  God  on  earth,  and  cast 
yourselves  and  all  that  you  possess  at  his  feet.    If  so, 
you  do  indeed  belong  to  the  family,  a  branch  of  which 
we  have  been  contemplating,  and  ere  long  you  shall  be 
among  them,  wear  a  robe  and  crown  like  them,  and 
with  them  exultingly  cast  it  before  the  throne.  And 
remember  the  more  you  do  for  God  in  this  world,  the 
brighter  will  your  celestial  crown  be.    And  will  you 
not  wish  it  to  be  bright,  when  you  cast  it  at  the 
feet  of  the  Redeemer  ?    Will  you  not  wish  to  be 
able  to  make  large  returns  for  all  his  favors  ?    Can  you 
be  contented  that  your  crown  should  be  the  least  glori- 
ous of  all  which  will  be  cast  before  him  ?    If  not,  daily 
strive  to  brighten  it  now.    Every  good  work  which  you 
perform,  every  acceptable  prayer  which  you  offer,  eve- 
ry right  feeling  which  you  exercise,  every  sincere  at- 
tempt to  grow  in  grace  and  knowledge,  will  add  one  to 
the  gems  which  adorn  it,  and  help  tp  render  it  less  un- 
worthy of  being  cast  at  your  Redeemer's  feet. 

3.  How  evident  does  it  appear  from  this  subject,  that 
no  self-righteous  character,  no  one  who  trusts  in  him- 
self, or  in  his  own  merits  for  salvation  is  preparing  for 
heaven,  or  possesses  any  thing  of  its  spirit,  or,  without 
a  change  in  his  disposition,  can  be  admitted  there.  Such 
a  man,  instead  of  casting  the  crown  at  the  feet  of  Christ, 
places  it  on  his  own  head,  and  wears  it  there  ;  and  there 
he  would  wear  it,  even  could  he  enter  heaven.  He  has 
none  of  the  views,  none  of  the  feelings,  which  animate 
its  humble  inhabitants  in  performing  the  action  before 
us.  Indeed,  according  to  his  views,  it  would  be  per- 
fectly proper  that  he  should  wear  it ;  for  if  he  gains  it 


400  THE  FEELINGS  OF  SAINTS  IN  HEAVEN. 


by  his  own  wisdom,  strength  and  goodness,  why  should 
he  not  retain  it  ?  who,  besides  himself,  has  any  right  to 
it  ?  He  has  fairly  won,  and  therefore  ought  to  wear  it. 
But  no  such  self-won  crowns  will  ever  be  seen  in  heav- 
en. All  the  crowns  which  will  ever  be  seen  there,  are 
crowns  which  Christ  merited,  and  which  his  grace  as- 
sisted his  people  to  obtain.  All  the  white  robes,  ever 
seen  there,  will  be  robes  which  were  washed  and  made 
white,  not  by  our  tears,  nor  ki  any  fountain  which  hu- 
man wisdom  ever  opened  but  in  the  blood  of  Christ ; 
the  fountain  in  which  all  may  wash  and  be  clean. 

Finally;  let  us  now, /my  professing  friends,  while  we 
come  around  the  table  of  our  Lord,  endeavor  to  render 
i  this  place,  as  much  as  possible,  like  heaven  by  imitating 
the  temper  of  heaven.  This  table  is  an  earthly  repre- 
sentation of  the  rainbow-encircled  throne,  which  John 
saw  in  vision.  Here  our  God  and  Saviour  sits  on  a 
mercy-seat  to  accept  our  vows  and  offerings.  Bring 
yourselves  then,  and  all  that  you  possess,  as  an  offering, 
and  with  love,  gratitude,  humility,  and  reverence,  cast 
it  down  at  their  feet.  Thus  by  anticipating  the  employ- 
ment of  heaven,  you  will  be  increasingly  prepared  to 
join  in  them ;  you  will  carry  away  more  of  a  heavenly 
spirit,  and  will  obtain  fresh  courage  to  maintain  your 
Christian  warfare,  animated  by  the  assurance,  that  nei- 
ther selfishness,  nor  pride,  nor  any  other  enemy,  which 
now  assails  you  and  defiles  your  services,  shall  be  able 
to  follow  you  to  heaven. 


This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last 
date  stamped  below 


FOUR  WEEKS  r-?Oll  DATE  P„F  REGEtff 


JUN  02190 


3m-6,'50  (550)470 


University  Of  California,  Los  Angeles 


L  007  408  610  9 


BX 

7233 

P29 


